UPSC Prelims 2021 CSAT Paper II · Q42 of 79 Comprehension hard

Passage

In the immediate future, we will see the increasing commodification of many new technologies — artificial intelligence and robotics, 3D manufacturing, custom made biological and pharmaceutical products, lethal autonomous weapons and driverless cars. This will pose conundrums. The moral question of how a driverless car will decide between hitting a jaywalker and swerving and damaging the car has often been debated. The answer is both simple — save the human life — and complex. At which angle should the car swerve — just enough to save the jaywalker or more than enough ? If the driverless car is in Dublin, who would take the decision ? The Irish Government, or the car’s original code writer in California, or a software programmer in Hyderabad to whom maintenance is outsourced ? If different national jurisdictions have different fine print on prioritising a human life, how will it affect insurance and investment decisions, including transnational ones ?

Which of the following statements best reflect the rational, plausible and practical implications that can be derived from the passage given above ? 1. Too much globalization is not in the best interests of any country. 2. Modern technologies are increasingly blurring the economic borders. 3. Innovation and capital have impinged on the domain of the State. 4. Public policy of every country should focus on developing its own supply chains. 5. Geopolitics will have to reconcile to many ambiguities and uncertainties. Select the correct answer using the code given below :

  1. (a) 1, 4 and 5 only
  2. (b) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
  3. (c) 2, 3 and 5 only ✓ UPSC's answer
  4. (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Why the answer is (c)

• The passage links a driverless car in Dublin to a code writer in California and a maintenance programmer in Hyderabad, showing that modern technology decisions cross national economic borders.

• It asks whether the Irish Government, the California code writer, or the Hyderabad programmer should decide, showing that innovation and private capital enter areas normally governed by the State.

• It states that different national jurisdictions have different fine print on prioritising human life, which affects insurance and investment decisions, including transnational ones.

• These cross-border legal, moral and financial questions create ambiguities and uncertainties that geopolitics must manage.

• Therefore statements 2, 3 and 5 only follow, making option (c) correct.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1, 4 and 5 only
Option (a) includes 1 and 4, which the passage does not support because it does not argue that excessive globalization is harmful or that every country must build its own supply chains.
(b) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
Option (b) includes 4, which is not derived from the passage because it does not recommend public policy focused on developing domestic supply chains.
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Option (d) includes 1 and 4, which are not supported because the passage does not condemn globalization or prescribe self-reliant supply chains.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2021, held on 10 October 2021. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

Practise this paper free