PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2.

Mapungubwe

Located in southern Africa just below the Limpopo River, the kingdom of Mapungubwe, flourished between the 11th and 13th century CE

A. Mapungubwe, which was one of the first states in southern Africa, was formed by Bantu-speaking peoples who were farmers. The area controlled by the rulers of Mapungubwe had at its heart a large sandstone plateau, which was easily defended due to its inaccessibility. As with other kingdoms in the region of southern Africa, cattle herding and other types of farming brought plenty of food and a surplus that could be traded for needed goods. Archaeology has revealed extensive layers of bones and manure, which indicate that from the 9th century CE there were large cattle herds, the traditional source of political power in southern African communities. The archaeological record for the 10th century shows a marked increase in the number of domesticated cattle in the area as well as cotton cultivation and weaving, as indicated by abundant finds of spindle whorls.

B. The total population of Mapungubwe at its peak in the mid-13th century was around 5,000 people. The chief or king of Mapungubwe was likely the wealthiest individual in the society, and would have owned more cattle and precious materials than anyone else. The king and his advisers dwelt in a stone enclosure composed of stone walls and housing built on the highest level of the community's territory, a natural sandstone hill which is some 30 metres high and 100 metres in length. Occupation on the hill dates from the 11th century and the entire complex was surrounded by a wooden palisade*, as indicated by postholes made in the rock. The rest of the community lived in mud and thatch housing spread out below the hill, although there is one stone structure here. This settlement, known as Babandyanalo, covers around 5 hectares (12.3 acres) and predates the hilltop structures.

C. The kings of Mapungubwe were buried at the top of the hill site in a demarcated area away from the dwellings, while other members of the community were buried at the surrounding valley level. A wooden staircase connected the two levels, the sockets for the steps being clearly visible in the sandstone cliff face. There were some grander residences dotted around the outskirts of Babandyanalo, and these probably belonged to male relatives of the king. There are many other smaller but still impressive sites across the Mapungubwe plateau, which are located anywhere from 15 to 100 kilometres from the major hill site. Containing stone residences and walls, they likely belonged to local chiefs who acted as servants to the king.

D. The Mapungubwe plateau has a very high number of carnivore animal remains and ivory splinters, suggesting that the skins of these large animals and ivory elephant tusks were accumulated, probably for trade with coastal areas reached by the Limpopo River. The presence of glass beads, almost certainly from India, indicate there was trade of some sort with other states on the coast who, in turn, traded with merchants travelling from India by sea. Mapungubwe also benefitted from locally-sourced copper and the gold trade as it passed from the kingdom of Great Zimbabwe (12-15th century), situated to the north of Mapungubwe, to the coastal city of Kosala. It is likely that trade links led to a strengthening of political authority in order to control and even monopolise these lucrative interregional connections.

E. Archaeological discoveries reveal that pottery was produced on a scale large enough to suggest the presence of professional potters, and is another indicator of the prosperity of Mapungubwe society. Archaeological finds include spherical vessels with short necks, beakers, and bowls, many of which have decorative stamps. There are also ceramic discs, and whistles. In addition, cattle, sheep, and goat figurines, and small figures of highly stylised humans with elongated bodies and short limbs have been found. The figures may have been used in ceremonies as offerings to ancestors, but their precise function is not known. Other discoveries include small jewellery items made from locally sourced copper.

F. Beautifully decorated artefacts made of gold have also been found at Mapungubwe. A type of decoration, found nowhere else except Great Zimbabwe, involved the crafting of gold into small rectangular sheets and carving geometrical patterns into it. These sheets were then used to cover wooden objects (which have not survived) using small tacks, also made of gold. One such object that has been discovered may have been a sceptre, while additional evidence of local gold-working is a rhinoceros figurine made from small hammered sheets, and thousands of small gold beads. These objects were all found at the royal burial site and date to c. 1150. They are the first known indicators that gold had an intrinsic value of its own (as opposed to that of a currency) in southern Africa.

G. The kingdom of Mapungubwe was already in decline by the late 13th century, probably because overpopulation placed too much stress on local resources, a situation that may have been brought to a crisis point by a series of droughts. Trade routes may also have shifted northwards. Certainly, the areas that now prospered were to the north, such as Great Zimbabwe.

Glossary

* palisade: typically a row of closely placed, high vertical wooden or iron posts used as a means of defence

PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3.

Artificial Intelligence

In many countries in the West, hysteria about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. There seems to be no shortage of sensationalist news about how AI could cure diseases, accelerate human innovation and improve human creativity. Just looking at the media headlines, you might think that we are already living in a future where AI has infiltrated every aspect of society.

While it is undeniable that AI has opened up a wealth of promising opportunities, it has also led to the emergence of a mindset that can be best described as 'AI solutionism'. This is the philosophy that, given enough data, machine learning algorithms can solve all of humanity's problems. But, in fact, instead of supporting AI progress, this mindset actually jeopardises the value of machine intelligence by disregarding important AI safety principles and setting unrealistic expectations about what AI can really do for humanity.

In only a few years, AI solutionism has made its way from the technology evangelists' mouths in Silicon Valley in California to the minds of government officials and policymakers around the world. The pendulum has swung from the dystopian notion that AI will destroy humanity to the utopian belief that our algorithmic saviour is here.

We are now seeing governments pledge support to national AI initiatives and compete in a technological race to dominate the burgeoning machine-learning sector. While many politicians proclaim the transformative effects of the coming 'AI revolution', they fail to realise the complexity around deploying advanced machine learning systems in the real world.

One of the most promising varieties of AI technologies are neural networks. This form of machine learning is loosely modelled on the neuronal structure of the human brain, but on a much smaller scale. But what many politicians do not understand is that simply adding a neural network to a problem will not automatically mean that you'll find a solution. Similarly, adding a neural network to a system of government does not mean it will be instantaneously more inclusive or fair.

AI systems need a lot of data to function, but the public sector typically does not have the appropriate data infrastructure to support advanced machine learning. Most of the data remains stored in offline archives. The few digitised sources of data that exist tend to be buried in bureaucracy. More often than not, data is spread across different government departments that each require special permissions to be accessed. Above all, the public sector typically lacks the human talent with the right technological capabilities to fully reap the benefits of machine intelligence.

For these reasons, the sensationalism over AI has attracted many critics. Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, has long advocated a more sensible and realistic approach that focuses on simple everyday applications of AI instead of the hypothetical takeover by super-intelligent robots. Similarly, Rodney Brooks, professor of robotics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes that 'almost all innovations in robotics and AI take far, far longer to be really widely deployed than people in the field and outside the field imagine'.

One of the many difficulties in deploying machine learning systems is that AI is extremely susceptible to adversarial attacks. This means that a malicious AI can target another AI to make it behave in a certain way, such as forcing it to make wrong predictions. Many researchers have warned against the rolling out of AI without appropriate security standards and defence mechanisms. Still, AI security remains an often overlooked topic when machine learning systems are installed.

If we are to reap the benefits and minimise the potential harms of AI, we must start thinking about how machine learning can be meaningfully applied to specific areas of government, business and society. This means we need to have a discussion about AI ethics and the distrust that many people have towards machine learning.

Most importantly, we need to be aware of the limitations of AI and where people still need to take the lead. Instead of painting an unrealistic picture of the power of AI, it is important to take a step back and separate the actual technological capabilities of AI from fantasy.

The medical profession has also recognised the drawbacks to AI. The IBM Watson for Oncology programme was a piece of AI that was meant to help doctors treat cancer. Even though it was developed to deliver the best recommendations, human experts found it hard to trust the machine. As a result, the AI programme was abandoned in most hospitals where it was trialled.

Similar difficulties arose in the legal domain when algorithms were used in courts in the US to sentence criminals. An algorithm calculated risk assessment scores and advised judges on the sentencing. The system was found to amplify structural racial discrimination and was later abandoned.

There are some crucial lessons here for everyone aiming to boost investments in national AI programmes. These examples demonstrate that there is no AI solution for everything. Using AI simply for the sake of AI may not always be productive or useful, and not every issue is best addressed by applying machine intelligence to it. All solutions come with a cost and not everything that can be automated should be.