Can Machines Think, By Descartes And Turing

Can machines think? This question, addressed by Descartes and Turing, leads to discussion of how thought is constructed and what is the mind made of. At the heart of the debate, there is a schism between Cartesian dualism and functionalism. Language is a method considered by both sides as evidence of thought and provides the test for intelligence. This essay will look at Descartes’ objections and Turing’s arguments for whether machine can ever think. This essay will argue that Turing’s, and the functionalist, view is correct. It questions whether Turing’s test provides sufficient evidence of machine intelligence, and uses Searle’s Chinese room to explain why intentionality matters.

Functionalism and Dualism

The disagreement between Descartes

He argues that a machine engaging in conversation with a human would be incapable of providing meaningful, appropriate answers with using the correct arrangement of words (105). Machines simply cannot engage with language like humans can and no programming can overcome that. One major fault with his premise is that it assumes thought manifests itself in human language. It would mean that animals cannot think, or a human raised away from human society who cannot speak or sign can’t think. In fact it could lead to extreme solipsism, where thought can only be certain if you were the human, animal or machine whose thought is being considered

Functionalists see the mind as a functional type with a major role of information processing, rather than the physical brain (113). Therefore computers in the future have the potential to realise this function and once they can, they can be considered to have a mind. To suggest that machines cannot think would take on a solipsist view, which could entail doubting the ability that anyone can think (113). Turing devises a version of the imitation game, where an interrogator questions one human and one machine (in separate rooms) and tries to determine which one is machine. If a machine can pass this test, then they can think (128). At the time of writing, Turing claims that future machines can have the appropriate storage capacity to match the human brain (excluding visual processing), and to pass the Turing test (140). The issue of technology lies more in programming and creating a machine that can