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Can computers think
Can computers think
Critique chinese room argument
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John Searle is arguing against functionalism and strong artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is the view that the mind is a computer program and the brain is just a digital computer.
Although Searle's argument helped me gain a better understanding of biological phenomena and artificial intelligence, I am not compelled into believing that his argument is sufficient enough to prove that "no computer program by itself is sufficient to give a system a mind" (page 682, conclusion #2, paragraph 7 "Can computers think? John Searle). Ill explain more after I summarize John Searle's "Can computers think?" Argument.
Searle's argument is directed at what he defines as "strong artificial intelligence" (AI). His argument counters the belief
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(page 680, paragraph 5, "Can computers think?" John Searle) The Chinese room argument suggests that these elements by themselves "have no connection with understanding". (page 680, paragraph 2, "Can computers think?" John Searle) In this way, Searle argues further that the formal principles of a computer will not be sufficient for understanding "since a human will be able to follow the formal principles without understanding anything." (page 679, paragraph 4, "Can computers think?" John Searle In short, formal symbols are not sufficient conditions for understanding. Moreover, he states that no reasons have been given to suppose that when someone understands English, he is operating with any formal program at all.
According to Searle, "a program cannot give a computer a "mind", "understanding" or "consciousness" (page 681, paragraph 3, "Can computers think? John Searle). Concluding, a computer can't be intelligent since the symbols it processes are meaningless, and it doesn’t matter how intelligent-seeming a computer behaves and which kind of programming makes it behave that way. The computers internal states and processes, being purely syntactic, lack semantics. It doesn’t have intentional states. (page 683, conclusion #4, paragraph 4, "Can computers think?" John
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:
In the essay "Toward An Intelligence Beyond Man’s" by Robert Jastrow, the author showed his view on computer intelligence and predicted that computer intelligence will be a new kind of evolution. Jastrow stateed that computer nowadays is as intelligent as human brain; they can communicate with human, learn from experience, and raise logical questions. The more complex the computer, the better they imitate human. He predicted that computer will as important as life in future years. Then, Jastrow used the example of Arthur Samuel and IBM computer to show computers can learn faster through motivation, even they do not have emotions and drives as human do. He also points out that computer and human brain share some characteristics; they both freeze out when handle too many tasks, and they outclass fast decisions under a crisis. Jastrow said even human still have the control power, computers learn much faster than humans’ intelligence. Then, in an ultimate situation, computers and human w ill become partners; they completely depends on each other to survive. However, Jastrow thought this partnership will not stay long; as computer will become more and more clever , but human evolution of intelligence is almost finished. He suggested that computer will be the new kind of intelligence which surpass human, as a new evolution of life. He said the history had proved it takes a million year for human evolution. It took less time , compare to a billion years of evolution from worm to human. By the incredibly fast rate of technology improvement, Jastrow thought computer will evolve in a much shorter period of time.
Searle's argument delineates what he believes to be the invalidity of the computational paradigm's and artificial intelligence's (AI) view of the human mind. He first distinguishes between strong and weak AI. Searle finds weak AI as a perfectly acceptable investigation in that it uses the computer as a strong tool for studying the mind. This in effect does not observe or formulate any contentions as to the operation of the mind, but is used as another psychological, investigative mechanism. In contrast, strong AI states that the computer can be created so that it actually is the mind. We must first describe what exactly this entails. In order to be the mind, the computer must be able to not only understand, but to have cognitive states. Also, the programs by which the computer operates are the focus of the computational paradigm, and these are the explanations of the mental states. Searle's argument is against the claims of Shank and other computationalists who have created SHRDLU and ELIZA, that their computer programs can (1) be ascribe...
Computers are well known for their ability to perform computations and follow a list of instructions, but can a computer be a mind? There are varying philosophical theories on what constitutes a mind. Some believe that the mind must be a physical object, and others believe in dualism, or the idea that the mind is separate from the brain. I am a firm believer in dualism, and this is part of the argument that I will use in the favor of Dennett. The materialist view however, would likely not consider Hubert to be a mind. That viewpoint believes that all objects are physical objects, so the mind is a physical part of a human brain, and thus this viewpoint doesn’t consider the mind and body as two separate things, but instead they are both parts of one object. The materialist would likely reject Hubert as a mind, even though circuit boards are a physical object, although even a materialist would likely agree that Yorick being separated from Dennett does not disqualify Yorick as a mind. If one adopts a dualism view and accept the idea that the mind does not have to be connected to a physical object, then one can make sense of Hubert being able to act as the mind of Dennett. The story told to us by Dennett, is that when the switch is flipped on his little box attached to his body, the entity that controls Dennett, changes to the other entity. Since the switches are not labeled, it is never known which entity is
I will begin by providing a brief overview of the thought experiment and how Searle derives his argument. Imagine there is someone in a room, say Searle himself, and he has a rulebook that explains what to write when he sees certain Chinese symbols. On the other side of the room is a Chinese speaker who writes Searle a note. After Searle receives the message, he must respond—he uses the rulebook to write a perfectly coherent response back to the actual Chinese speaker. From an objective perspective, you would not say that Searle is actually able to write in Chinese fluently—he does not understand Chinese, he only knows how to compute symbols. Searle argues that this is exactly what happens if a computer where to respond to the note in Chinese. He claims that computers are only able to compute information without actually being able to understand the information they are computing. This fails the first premise of strong AI. It also fails the second premise of strong AI because even if a computer were capable of understanding the communication it is having in Chinese, it would not be able to explain how this understanding occurs.
Computers are machines that take syntactical information only and then function based on a program made from syntactical information. They cannot change the function of that program unless formally stated to through more information. That is inherently different from a human mind, in that a computer never takes semantic information into account when it comes to its programming. Searle’s formal argument thus amounts to that brains cause minds. Semantics cannot be derived from syntax alone. Computers are defined by a formal structure, in other words, a syntactical structure. Finally, minds have semantic content. The argument then concludes that the way the mind functions in the brain cannot be likened to running a program in a computer, and programs themselves are insufficient to give a system thought. (Searle, p.682) In conclusion, a computer cannot think and the view of strong AI is false. Further evidence for this argument is provided in Searle’s Chinese Room thought-experiment. The Chinese Room states that I, who does not know Chinese, am locked in a room that has several baskets filled with Chinese symbols. Also in that room is a rulebook that specifies the various manipulations of the symbols purely based on their syntax, not their semantics. For example, a rule might say move the squiggly
In this paper I will evaluate and present A.M. Turing’s test for machine intelligence and describe how the test works. I will explain how the Turing test is a good way to answer if machines can think. I will also discuss Objection (4) the argument from Consciousness and Objection (6) Lady Lovelace’s Objection and how Turing responded to both of the objections. And lastly, I will give my opinion on about the Turing test and if the test is a good way to answer if a machine can think.
John Searle developed two areas of thought concerning the independent cognition of computers. These ideas included the definition of a weak AI and a strong AI. In essence, these two types of AI have their fundamental differences. The weak AI was defined as a system, which simply were systems that simulations of the human mind and AI systems that were characterized as an AI system that is completely capable of cognitive processes such as consciousness and intentionality, as well as understanding. He utilizes the argument of the Chinese room to show that the strong AI does not exist.
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.
Specifically, in how the theory likens conscious intelligence to a mimicry of consciousness. In Alan Turing’s study of computing and consciousness, he developed the Turing Test, which essentially led to the notion that if a computing machine or artificial intelligence could perfectly mimic human communication, it was deemed ‘conscious’. REF. However, many do not agree and instead argue that while computers may be able to portray consciousness and semantics, it is not commensurable to actual thought and consciousness. Simulation is not the same as conscious thinking, and having a conscious understanding of the sematic properties of the symbols it is manipulating. This flaw was portrayed in John Searle’s thought experiment, ‘The Chinese Room’. Searle places a person who cannot speak Chinese in a room with various Chinese characters and a book of instructions, while a person outside of the room that speaks Chinese communicates through written Chinese message passed into the room. The non-Chinese speaker responds by manipulating the uninterpreted Chinese characters, or symbols, in conjunction with the syntactical instruction book, giving the illusion that they can speak Chinese. This process simulated the operation of a computer program, yet the non-Chinese speaker clearly had no understanding of the messages, or of Chinese, and was still able to produce
In Subculture Theory many theorists were interested in explaining delinquent gangs, which were believed to be the most common form of delinquency. The Subculture Theory was made up of several different theories that were all related to each other. Subculture theories provided explanations of how groups of individuals develop similar values and rationales for behavior (Williams & McKay, 2014). One theory within Subculture Theory was called the delinquent subculture theory by Albert Cohen. Another theory in the Subculture Theory was the differential opportunity formed by Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin. The third theory by Walter Miller used direct observation of social groups in their natural setting. All four theories were interest in of the Subculture Theory could develop (Williams & Mckay, 2014). The last major theory was very different theories and was created by Wolfgang and Ferracuti. All these theories in the Subculture Theory were very different but were all related in some way.
...lligent, intentional activity taking place inside the room and the digital computer. The proponents of Searle’s argument, however, would counter that if there is an entity which does computation, such as human being or computer, it cannot understand the meanings of the symbols it uses. They maintain that digital computers do not understand the input given in or the output given out. But it cannot be claimed that the digital computers as whole cannot understand. Someone who only inputs data, being only a part of the system, cannot know about the system as whole. If there is a person inside the Chinese room manipulating the symbols, the person is already intentional and has a mental state, thus, due to the seamless integration of their systems of hardware and software that understand the inputs and outputs as whole systems, digital computers too have states of mind.
In John Searle’s paper, Minds, Brains, and Programs, he rejects the idea that the human mind behaves and computes similarly to that of a computer program. Searle comes to this conclusion by arguing against a specific type of functionalism, the Computational Theory of the Mind. He does so by objecting many of Roger Schank’s projects, ‘which aim to simulate the human ability to understand stories; being able to answer questions about a story even though the information that they give is never explicitly stated in the story’. Searle’s main focus will revolve around famous project known as the Chinese Room experiment. Using this experiment Searle refutes the idea and claim that an “appropriately programmed computer” can have the ability to think
While the symbol manipulation may have some connection to the way humans understand, it is unnecessary. P4 details what gives something the capacity to think. Searle says that “My own view is that only a machine could think, and indeed only very special kinds of machines, namely brains and machines that had the same causal powers as brains.” This means that he sees humans as machines that can think. He goes on to state that strong artificial intelligence is about programs, and programs are not machines.
In the past few decades we have seen how computers are becoming more and more advance, challenging the abilities of the human brain. We have seen computers doing complex assignments like launching of a rocket or analysis from outer space. But the human brain is responsible for, thought, feelings, creativity, and other qualities that make us humans. So the brain has to be more complex and more complete than any computer. Besides if the brain created the computer, the computer cannot be better than the brain. There are many differences between the human brain and the computer, for example, the capacity to learn new things. Even the most advance computer can never learn like a human does. While we might be able to install new information onto a computer it can never learn new material by itself. Also computers are limited to what they “learn”, depending on the memory left or space in the hard disk not like the human brain which is constantly learning everyday. Computers can neither make judgments on what they are “learning” or disagree with the new material. They must accept into their memory what it’s being programmed onto them. Besides everything that is found in a computer is based on what the human brain has acquired though experience.