Descartes And Turing's Ideas In The Film 'Her'

In 2013 the movie Her created a whole new perspective on the role of technology plays in our everyday lives and how dramatic human dependence has increased toward technology in today’s world. The movie illustrates the life of a lonely introvert named Theodore who purchases an operating system that has artificial intelligence. Theodore decides to get an operating system with a female voice and she calls herself Samantha. As the time passes Theodore starts developing intense feelings that progress into a deep love for his operating system. This ends up with Theodore actually having a dating relationship with Samantha. If philosophers Descartes and Turing were to watch this movie they would have completely different viewpoints on the relationship

My stance in this paper will be in regards to the same thoughts as Turing’s idea; because I believe of having a machine be intelligent is more reasonable than Descartes’s beliefs. Turing strived to answer the question “Can machines think?” To be able to think, one must possess a mind. Since the words “mind” and “machine” both have very broad definitions, it is not easy to define both words in a clear and concise manner to satisfy everyone. Turing has decided that he needs to ask a new question that is somewhat similar to the original one but contains words that cannot be easily understood. Turing would not be surprised at all that a machine like Samantha was created. Turing held a firm belief by the end of the 20th century there would be a computer with enough intellect that could fool a human. Instead of coming up with a new question to discard his original question of if computers possess the ability to think, he proposed a simple test that could determine if a machine was thinking or not. The test was titled the “Imitation Game” which involves three participants in a room. The three participants are

I know that the answer to the long standing question of if machines can think will never be fully answered because people’s views on what the mind and thinking differ greatly. Also, the mind is such a complex topic to talk about because people only know what goes on in their own minds and not anyone else’s. Turing’s idea that in the future there would be machines that can fool humans is not far-fetched. In the world today people have been coming closer and closer to making machines that are extremely human like. Some of these new inventions include robots that perform surgeries instead of doctors. Who would have thought 30 years ago that a robot would be able to perform surgery on a human? All of these new inventions shows are world is evolving faster than we realize. After analyzing how Samantha operates as a computer system I think she has many abilities to go against Descartes. She is able to show her ability to love Theodore. Maybe, there is the argument that isn’t a true love, but as seen in technology today through Twitter, Tinder, and Facebook people are becoming more towards loveless robots. People hid their emotions behind a computer screen, and never develop a true love. People are essentially becoming computer operating systems behind their laptops and smart phones. I feel I can see in 40 years from now that most the jobs done by humans today will be