1.50417 · Section 1: Types and components of computer systems

Emerging technologies

Key learnings

Artificial intelligence — learns and adapts
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a computer system or machine that carries out tasks normally needing human intelligence — recognising speech, making decisions, spotting patterns — and that learns from data and improves its own performance instead of following one fixed pre-written routine. Everyday uses: voice assistants, chatbots, recommendation systems, self-driving vehicles, facial recognition and medical-diagnosis support.
Extended reality — a mix of VR and AR
Extended reality (XR) is a mixture of virtual reality and augmented reality that combines the real/physical world with the digital world, allowing seamless interaction between them. VR replaces the real world with a computer-generated one; the headset user cannot see their surroundings. AR overlays digital content on the real world, which the user still sees (phone camera, AR glasses). Uses: training simulators, field trips, AR retail previews, AR navigation.
Impact — the effect on a named person
AI upsides: runs 24/7, so a chatbot answers queries at any hour; handles huge data faster and more consistently, cutting error. AI downsides: replaces workers — go beyond job loss to retraining and de-skilling; biased training data gives biased decisions; high set-up cost; data-privacy concerns. XR upsides: practise safely, risking no people or equipment; immersive learning and shopping, cutting returns. Every point must land on a named person, not "society".

Common mistakes

Drawn from real examiner reports.

Extended reality described as VR only

"Extended reality is when you put on a headset and see a virtual world" describes virtual reality alone and never mentions augmented reality or the combining of real and digital worlds. Extended reality needs BOTH halves: a mixture of VR and AR that combines the real/physical world with the digital world, allowing seamless interaction between them.

Emerging tech — Extended Reality = VR + AR mix; candidates described VR only (w23 P13 Q7a).

A fixed routine is not AI

Not every automatic or "smart" device is AI. A device that repeats one fixed, pre-programmed sequence every time — a washing machine's timed wash cycle, a traffic light on a set timer — is automatic but NOT AI, because it never learns or changes its behaviour. AI must learn from data and adapt, like a thermostat that learns the household routine.

Naming the technology is not an impact

"AI is used in cars" or "shops use augmented reality" only restates the stem — it names the technology and gives no effect, and echoing stem words earns nothing. State WHAT the effect is and, for "explain", WHY it happens: "self-driving cars react to hazards faster than a human because the system processes sensor data continuously, with no human reaction-time delay."

Whose impact? Name the beneficiary

Scenario misreads are the top cross-cutting failure. An impact on the customer is not an impact on the retailer, the bank or the hospital — answer only for the group the question names. Do not repeat a drawback that the stem has already given you, and if the question names three groups (patients, doctors, the hospital), cover all three rather than expanding on one.

Scenario misreads are rife: w22 P12 Q10 internet banking was inside a bank — advantages to the bank not the customer; w23 P11 Q10a benefits to the retailer not the customer; w22 P11 Q11 candidates repeated the disadvantage already in the stem.

Benefit stated where an advantage is asked

A one-sided statement is a benefit and does not score on an "advantage/disadvantage", "discuss" or "compare" question — an advantage compares. "The XR simulator is safe" is a benefit; "safer than training in a real aircraft, because a mistake risks no passengers" is an advantage. Every such answer needs a comparative, and a discuss answer must be two-sided.

Advantage/disadvantage and discuss/compare require a comparison, not a one-sided statement. Examiners' example (w22/s22): "good-quality printout" = benefit; "better-quality than a dot-matrix" = advantage. "The laptop has a large screen" fails; "a larger screen" is a comparison (w23 P11 Q3a).

Cost offered as the only drawback

Cost, battery life and storage capacity are ruled too subjective on device comparisons — keep a substantive drawback ready. XR: headsets are expensive and need a powerful computer or fast internet; they cause motion sickness and eye strain; and a VR user who cannot see the real room can walk into furniture. AI: biased data gives biased decisions.

Cost, battery life and storage capacity are ruled "too subjective" on device/storage compares (w22 P11 Q2c/Q12, s22 P12 Q3; s23 P13 Q3a notes cost/battery no longer credited as technology improves).

Exam tips

Cover both halves of extended reality
On any "describe extended reality" question, write the VR element AND the AR element, then the combination — real and digital worlds together, interacting seamlessly. A description of VR alone is incomplete, and on a 2-mark question it caps you at one mark or none.
Name the application, never just "AI"
Vague answers fail. Write "an AI chatbot", "an AI recommendation system", "an extended reality flight simulator" — not "AI", "technology" or "computers". The specific application is what lets you state a specific effect, and a specific effect is what the mark scheme rewards.
No brand names
The front page of the paper says brand and trade names earn no credit, and this is repeated every sitting. Use the generic term instead: voice assistant, VR headset, recommendation system, AR shopping app — never the manufacturer or product name of one you happen to own.
Match the command word
"State" wants the term only. "Describe" wants the definition — for XR, two elements for the 2 marks. "Explain" needs a reason: start the second half with "because...". "Discuss" needs both sides in one answer — never rule the page into two columns, which caps the marks.

Revision notes