ProCon’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Quiz

Question: When the AI assistant DeepSeek became the top free app in the Apple App Store in 2025, it was called a “Sputnik moment.” What did this mean?

Answer: The Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 shocked Americans, who had assumed their country was technologically ahead of the communist country, and led to the “space race” between the two countries.

Question: Which figure from Greek mythology foreshadowed ideas associated with AI?

Answer: Myths about Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention, included precursors to AI. For example, Hephaestus created the giant bronze man Talos, which had a mysterious life force from the gods, and Pandora and her powerful jar/box, which was filled with evil (and, in later stories, blessings).

Question: In 2023 AI leaders around the world signed an open letter calling for what?

Answer: On March 22, 2023, Elon Musk and other tech giants signed an open letter to the world, calling for a six-month pause on AI development, arguing that “Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.”

Question: What is Deep Blue?

Answer: In their first match in 1996, Deep Blue won the first game, but Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion, won the match, 4–2. The tables turned in 1997, when Kasparov, still the reigning champion, was defeated in a six-game marathon.

Question: What is “strong AI”?

Answer: “Strong AI,” also called AGI (artificial general intelligence), is considered the next generation of AI development. AI may perform human tasks, but strong AI will even determine the appropriate action to take.

Question: AI has contributed to which of the following?

Answer: AI has contributed to a wide variety of developments, such as ChatGPT, facial recognition software, online shopping algorithms, search engines, digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa, translation services, automated safety functions in cars, cybersecurity, airport body-scanning security, poker strategy, and the fight against disinformation on social media.

Question: British mathematician Alan Turing, who later created the “Turing test” to determine if a computer could “think,” contributed to which feat during World War II?

Answer: Alan Turing contributed to breaking the Nazis’ Enigma code during World War II.

Question: In 2025 U.S. Pres. Donald Trump announced the formation of which AI company?

Answer: On January 21, 2025, Pres. Donald Trump announced that three tech companies—OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle—would join forces to create Stargate, an AI company that Trump called the “largest AI infrastructure project in history” that will build “the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI.”