PART I

“Defense Witnesses Describe Chinatown Beating,” by John H. Kennedy

Introduction

Chinatown beating is one of the cases in which the aspects of credibility have been highlighted. The Boston case involved seven people who were required to give their evidence and testimonies on the events of the fateful day. The article will examine and evaluate the various descriptions of what happened during the Chinatown beating scenario. Additionally, the inferences made from the article will be lengthily discussed and elaborated. Further on, the essay will examine whether some of the descriptions contained inferences or not. The evidence and the descriptions that are highlighted in the article will be comprehensively discussed to

Descriptions and Inferences

The events of trial and defense prompted various instances of descriptions and inferences. The author has keenly discussed the various descriptions that are essential for subsequent inferences. Long Kuang Huang was a peasant farmer and a Chinese immigrant who is charged with two accounts of crime. Huang is said to have solicited a woman for sex at a fee. Further on, Mr. Huang is said to have assaulted and battered the police detective (Francis G. Kelly Jr) who wanted to intervene. The event occurred in the first day of May in the Combat Zone. The descriptions in this context could either be definite or indefinite. The use of anaphors like ‘her husband’ in ‘whose testimony in Chinese was translated, said her husband could write his name in English, but did not speak English’ is a vivid description of ‘Haung the husband to Bao Tang whose husband was the victim.

The article has highlighted various inferences from the events that took place in during the trial day. The final day of the testimony was characterized by various distinctive and substantive inferences. For instance, some of the witnesses were able to describe the scuffle between the Kelly and Haung thereby excluding the rape victim. Additionally, delay and technicality in resolving the case. The aspect of prostitution and violence are also possible inferences from the context. There was a further revelation by Audrey Manns that the victim spoke broken.

From the article, it is clear that some descriptions might already include some inferences. For instance the author says. ‘..two or three blocks before arresting Manns, and then Huang after an extended struggle, in front of 35 Kneeland St’ the description of blocks and the resultant inference is the struggle between the detective and the victim. This has been achieved through the combination of more than two arguments in the same sentence.

According to the article, it is crystal clear that other essential inferences could be made from the context. These inferences can further be backed up by evidence and hence increased levels of credibility. For instance, the issue of prostitution can be claimed to be legal in the article. This can be evidenced by Bates when he says, ‘a woman in an “electric blue” outfit and “bright blonde” hair walk by with a man.’

Conclusion

The article, ‘Defense Witnesses Describe Chinatown Beating’ by John H. Kennedy has been instrumental in highlighting the issues of description and inference. The article has further backed up the claim that descriptions can include some inferences. Prostitution is one of the additional inferences that can be made from this context.

PART II

The Machines Are Coming by Zeynep Tufekci

A conclusion that can be made from the article is that machines can replace human beings in the workplace.

Example 1

1. Machines are not used because they perform some actions better than human beings, (The author highlights the quirky and the pesky nature of human beings that make them unable to match the competence that is provided by the machines)

Thus,

2. In many cases, they do a ‘good enough’ job while also being cheaper, more predictable and easier to control,
3. Human beings are quirky and pesky,

Therefore,

4. Machines can replace human beings in the workplace.

Example 2:

1. Computers needed not only sophisticated, efficient algorithms, but also vast amounts of human-generated data, which can now be easily harvested from our digitized world. (The author uses the evidence of a robot with emotion detection software and how it was used to interview visitors at the border in the United States of America. Further on, the emotional processing software is said to have become better thereby prompting advertisement companies to adopt ‘mood-targeted; adverts.)

Thus,

2. Machines are getting better than humans in figuring out who to hire, who is in the mood to pay little more for that sweater and who requires a coupon to nudge them towards a sale, (This subargument is evidenced by the author when she claims that machines are getting better than human beings due to the higher levels of sophistication and the availability of huge human-generated data.)
3. Software is being used to predict whether people are telling the truth, how they feel and whom they will vote for,

Therefore,

4. Machines can replace human beings in the workplace.