Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a contentious topic for even longer than this technology has been actively present in our lives. One of the main contributors to AI thinking and it's implications comes from Alan Turing and the paper published in 1950 on what referred to as "The Imitation Game". The simple reduction of this writing establishes and AI as successful when it is able to convince a human observer of its humanity over another human. This concept of another being reaching some semblance of humanity has offended many groups, in particular Christians. At first, I was very surprised to hear Turing's "religious argument" against Artificial Intelligence, and even more shocked to hear that this is something that has support among Christians. …show more content…
This was the primary topic of the article "Artificial Intelligence and the Soul" by Russel Bjork. Personally, I had never considered the possibility that these human creations could be offensive to God, however, I can see a parallel between Artificial Intelligence seeking to make humans creators in a similar sense to God and the tower of Babel. It is the reason behind this creation that can be problematic, more than the physical creation itself. This begs the question, what is it that makes humankind unique? In my understanding of this technology, even though we refer to it as "intelligent", there is clearly no will or soul to these creations. In this sense it seems obvious to my technologically trained brain that this is of no worry to threaten our human uniqueness. However, as technology continues to progress and we approach a "Blade Runner" or "Westworld" scenario where the created hosts are indistinguishable from divinely created humans, this distinction might not be so clear. In the same way that I am currently not threatened by AI, it might be the case that someone who has witnessed the gradual developments that leads to this level of creation might have the same argument, but it is impossible to know. So this brings me back to the question of humanity and our uniqueness before …show more content…
After a particularly insightful semester in Wheaton's Theories of Origin's class I have reached the conclusion that our uniqueness is in this sole fact: God chose us. I believe that humankind existed prior to these two chosen representatives; however without the ability to interact with God as we do today and throughout the Bible. Specifically, I believe that in the Garden, God gave Adam and Eve souls: an indescribable connection to Him that allows for us to communicate with God in a way that is unique. This connection is what separates us from animals and our own creations. The existence of our soul is needed for the redeeming Sacrifice of Christ to provide us with salvation from our sins and the ability to ascend to heaven. In other words, Christ did not come to save goldfish or microwaves, but those that are uniquely chosen by Him: humans. But if the soul is the only thing that makes us unique then it seems rather prudent to have a definition of soul so that we can assure ourselves what is and is not a
Andy Clark strongly argues for the theory that computers have the potential for being intelligent beings in his work “Mindware: Meat Machines.” The support Clark uses to defend his claims states the similar comparison of humans and machines using an array of symbols to perform functions. The main argument of his work can be interpreted as follows:
Knowledge is everything, it's what separates humans from animals. It allows us to question the world around us. Another key aspect that separates humans from animals is that each human is unique. We all have different beliefs and ideals that help us explain the infinite amount of questions that this universe has gifted us. In his lecture, Christopher Viney goes over the many shifts in the origin of life and how each time there is a shift people start to adept to the new shift.
The official foundations for "artificial intelligence" were set forth by A. M. Turing, in his 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" wherein he also coined the term and made predictions about the field. He claimed that by 1960, a computer would be able to formulate and prove complex mathematical theorems, write music and poetry, become world chess champion, and pass his test of artificial intelligences. In his test, a computer is required to carry on a compelling conversation with humans, fooling them into believing they are speaking with another human. All of his predictions require a computer to think and reason in the same manner as a human. Despite 50 years of effort, only the chess championship has come true. By refocusing artificial intelligence research to a more humanlike, cognitive model, the field will create machines that are truly intelligent, capable of meet Turing's goals. Currently, the only "intelligent" programs and computers are not really intelligent at all, but rather they are clever applications of different algorithms lacking expandability and versatility. The human intellect has only been used in limited ways in the artificial intelligence field, however it is the ideal model upon which to base research. Concentrating research on a more cognitive model will allow the artificial intelligence (AI) field to create more intelligent entities and ultimately, once appropriate hardware exists, a true AI.
Human identity can be summed up by looking at it from two perspectives. Who we are in our natural state and who we are in Christ. Mankind in his natural state is driven by his sin nature. Romans 1-8 perfectly lays out who and what we are in our natural state. It also lays out who and what we are in Christ. “For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” (Romans 3:9 NIV) In Romans 1:29-31, Paul gives a long list of wicked behaviors that are still prevalent in today’s society, which lets me know that we, in our natural state, are the same as we always have been. There are no exceptions to the rule, besides that of Christ. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (3:23) Paul emphasizes in Romans 1-3 how people have tried to free themselves from their sin nature by depending on the Law to no avail. The Law could not bring about justification (Acts 13:39), produce righteousness (Galatians 2:21), produce life (Galatians 3:21), bring about perfection (Hebrews 7:19) or free the conscience from a knowledge of sin (Hebrews 10:1-4). (Johnson, 1896) The fact is that God’s standards are perfect and we alone can never live up to them by any religious act or moral behavior. The good news is that God knew all of this. He knew that by our strength alone, we could not overcome our own sin nature. He sent us a perfect sacrifice to permanently fulfill the Law. That sacrifice was his only Son, Jesus Christ. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25) Through faith in Jesus Christ, the grace of God has been given to us. Now, rather than being bound we are made free. Instead of unrighteousness abounding in ou...
This poses a problem for the essentialist view because if the boundaries of a species cannot be concretely defined, if the definition of which organisms constitute the human species and when it started is not clear and in flux, how then is it possible to determine a set of traits unique to only humans, or any other species? In addition, if we are indeed all connected via the tree of life, it is likely that species share characteristics with each other, that qualities that may have been thought as uniquely human are in fact also observed in other species. This thought reflects what is in reality observed, common facets considered to be of human nature such as reasoning, use of language, and a sense of morality have been observed in other species. Moreover, there exist those we categorize as humans who do not share these traits. In sum, the essentialist view of human nature does not at all lend itself well to the modern understanding of evolutionary biology. However this does not mean that human nature ceases to exist, in fact, the nomological view accommodates modern evolution and combats arguments against any existence of human
One of the hottest topics that modern science has been focusing on for a long time is the field of artificial intelligence, the study of intelligence in machines or, according to Minsky, “the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men”.(qtd in Copeland 1). Artificial Intelligence has a lot of applications and is used in many areas. “We often don’t notice it but AI is all around us. It is present in computer games, in the cruise control in our cars and the servers that route our email.” (BBC 1). Different goals have been set for the science of Artificial Intelligence, but according to Whitby the most mentioned idea about the goal of AI is provided by the Turing Test. This test is also called the imitation game, since it is basically a game in which a computer imitates a conversating human. In an analysis of the Turing Test I will focus on its features, its historical background and the evaluation of its validity and importance.
Humans are extremely complex and unique beings. We are animals however we often forget our origins and our place in the natural world and consider ourselves superior to nature. Humans are animals but what does it mean to be human? What are the defining characteristics that separate us from other animals? How are we different? Human origins begin with primates, however through evolution we developed unique characteristics such as larger brain sizes, the capacity for language, emotional complexity and habitual bipedalism which separated us from other animals and allowed us to further advance ourselves and survive in the natural world. Additionally, humans have been able to develop a culture, self-awareness, symbolic behavior, and emotional complexity. Human biological adaptations separated humans from our ancestors and facilitated learned behavior and cultural adaptations which widened that gap and truly made humans unlike any other animal.
Since antiquity the human mind has been intrigued by artificial intelligence hence, such rapid growth of computer science has raised many issues concerning the isolation of the human mind.
Margaret Boden’s “Artificial Intelligence: Cannibal or Missionary” is a credible primary source article rebutting common concerns of artificial intelligence. Boden uses strong logic to combat against the thought of artificial intelligence making humans less special and artificial intelligence causing people to be dehumanized. Boden concludes that dehumanization and people finding themselves less special from AI are false and that other concerns include people overlying on AI.
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.
Links999. Ethical and moral issues regarding artificial intelligence. Links999.org, 24 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .
When most people think of artificial intelligence they might think of a scene from I, Robot or from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They might think of robots that highly resemble humans start a revolution against humanity and suddenly, because of man’s creation, man is no longer the pinnacle of earth’s hierarchy of creatures. For this reason, it might scare people when I say that we already utilize artificial intelligence in every day society. While it might not be robots fighting to win their freedom to live, or a defense system that decides humanity is the greatest threat to the world, artificial intelligence already plays a big role in how business is conducted today.
Mankind’s origin was premeditated from God, formed from the dust of the earth, and made in His image and likeness. God confers with Himself and rouses Himself to make man in His own image and likeness (Bavinck 1). Because man is made in God’s image and likeness, he is set apart from any other creature or angel ever created. Man has a relationship with God that no other creature will ever have.
...a-kind, comes into being. Since we are all unique, we all have a precise and specific “imprinting protocol” which makes us human. Finding our exact “imprint” is “the mystery of the human person” (Cortez, 93). But, “the emergence of higher-level properties and complex systems with novel properties… cannot be comprehensively understood on lower-level terms alone,” affirming that what defines a physical being as being “human,” or what delineates David as a “real boy” is ultimately abstract and unknown (Cortez, 94). It is ultimately up to God.
Artificial intelligence has become a big controversy between scientists within the past few years. Will artificial intelligence improve our communities in ways we humans can’t, or will they just cause danger to us? I believe that artificial intelligence will only bring harm to our communities. There are multiple reasons why artificial intelligence will bring danger to humanity, some of them being: you can’t trust them, they will lead to more unemployment, and they will cause more obesity.