This year marks exactly two centuries since the publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley. Even before the invention of the electric light bulb, the author produced a remarkable work of speculative fiction that would foreshadow many ethical questions to be raised by technologies yet to come.

    Today the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) raises fundamental questions: “What is intelligence, identity, or consciousness? What makes humans humans?”

    What is being called artificial general intelligence, machines that would imitate the way humans think, continues to evade scientists. Yet humans remain fascinated by the idea of robots that would look, move, and respond like humans, similar to those recently depicted on popular sci-fi TV series such as “Westworld” and “Humans”.

    Just how people think is still far too complex to be understood, let alone reproduced, says David Eagleman, a Stanford University neuroscientist. “We are just in a situation where there are no good theories explaining what consciousness actually is and how you could ever build a machine to get there.”

    But that doesn’t mean crucial ethical issues involving AI aren’t at hand. The coming use of autonomous vehicles, for example, poses thorny ethical questions. Human drivers sometimes must make split-second decisions. Their reactions may be a complex combination of instant reflexes, input from past driving experiences, and what their eyes and ears tell them in that moment. AI “vision” today is not nearly as sophisticated as that of humans. And to anticipate every imaginable driving situation is a difficult programming problem.

    Whenever decisions are based on masses of data, “you quickly get into a lot of ethical questions,” notes Tan Kiat How, chief executive of a Singapore-based agency that is helping the government develop a voluntary code for the ethical use of AI. Along with Singapore, other governments and mega-corporations are beginning to establish their own guidelines. Britain is setting up a data ethics center. India released its AI ethics strategy this spring.

    On June 7 Google pledged not to “design or deploy AI” that would cause “overall harm,” or to develop AI-directed weapons or use AI for surveillance that would violate international norms. It also pledged not to deploy AI whose use would violate international laws or human rights.

    While the statement is vague, it represents one starting point. So does the idea that decisions made by AI systems should be explainable, transparent, and fair. To put it another way: How can we make sure that the thinking of intelligent machines reflects humanity’s highest values? Only then will they be useful servants and not Frankenstein’s out-of-control monster.

答案精析：根据题干中的Mary Shelley和Frankenstein可直接定位至文章首段，第一段第二句指出这部推理小说预示着未来的技术将会引发许多伦理问题。原文中的a remarkable work of speculative fiction指的就是《弗兰肯斯坦》（Frankenstein）这部小说，C项中的concerns对应原文ethical questions，raised by AI对应原文中的raised by technologies，故正确答案为C。

错项排除：A项无中生有，原文中并没有提及这部科幻小说使全世界的人工智能科学家着迷，故排除。B项利用原文第一句中的two centuries作干扰，但原文只是在介绍这部小说的出版时长，并非是提及这部小说的原因，故B项错误。D项为强干扰项，首段第二句最后提到这部小说预示着（foreshadow）未来的技术将会引发许多伦理问题，而并非这本书引发了（has sparked）伦理争论，故D项错误。

长难句分析：Even before the invention of the electric light bulb, the author produced a remarkable work of speculative fiction that would foreshadow many ethical questions to be raised by technologies yet to come.

本句的句子主干为…the author produced a remarkable work of speculative fiction…，主谓宾结构。逗号之前的句子为时间状语，用于表示主句内容发生的时间。主句后面的that引导定语从句，修饰a remarkable work，用于解释这部小说预示了许多伦理问题。句末的to be raised by technologies为后置定语，修饰ethical questions，用于解释这些伦理问题是技术所引发的。

句意为：甚至在电灯泡发明之前，这位作者就已经创作了一部引人注目的推理小说，它预示了未来的技术将引发许多伦理问题。