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The Computer Brain And The Human Brain,Which Is Wiser
Essay on the turing test
The Computer Brain And The Human Brain,Which Is Wiser
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Can computers think independently and do they have “minds”? This question has been the topic of countless, bad movies since the 1950s as well as a number of science fiction novels. We all believe that we have minds. It is something that is taken for granted but what exactly is a mind and are humans the only to possess them? Ever since the invention of the computer, they have been a mystery, even to the smartest of scientists. With the ongoing development of artificial intelligence and high population of computer literate people, the possibility of computers with minds must be re-evaluated.
The initial question that must be answered before tackling the mind/computer problem is how do you define a mind? This is something that philosophers have been trying to answer for hundreds of years, long before the invention of the computer. Renee Descartes supported the concept of ‘dualism’ which is the belief that the mind is a separate non-physical entity associated with the body during its life. On the other hand, behaviorism holds the notion that the mind does not exist but rather patterns of behavior and our pre-dispositions to such behavior. Functionalism is another school of thought that has come to light recently and draws its theory from computer technology. Functionalism believes that the mind is simply a program and the body, its hardware. With all the different theories, none of them have been able to answer the question on whether computers are similar enough to the human brain to have intelligence.
The think the simplest definition for intelligence is the ability to adapt. You can tell a computer to go to a specific IP address but if IBM’s address is no longer www.ibm.com, the computer does not know how to find the new one. More specifically, it can be said that intelligence is the to take into consideration the circumstances of completing a certain task. Alan Turing, a mathematician, sought to answer the question on whether or not computers possess intelligence.
The Turing Test asked people to communicate with something or someone that they could not see. The people engaged in the communication were then asked identify whether they were talking to a machine or a human. If the test subjects thought themselves to be conversing with a human when they were really engaged with a machine, then the computer was thought to have intelligence. This test is inherently flawed.
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 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.
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines intelligence as the capacity to apprehend facts and propositions, to reason about them, and the ability to understand them and their relations to each other. A. M. Turing had this definition in mind when he made his predictions and designed his test, commonly known as the Turing test. His test is, in principle, simple. A group of judges converse with different entities, some computers and some human, without knowledge of which is which. The job of the judges is to discern which entity is a computer. Judges may ask them any question they like, "Are you a computer?" excepted, and the participants may answer with anything they like, and in turn, ask questions of the judges. The concept of the test is not difficult, but creating an entity capable of passing the test with current technology is virtually impossible.
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
In Turing’s test, an isolated interrogator attempts to distinguish the identities between discreet human and computer subjects based upon their replies to a series of questions asked during the interrogation process. Questions are generally generated through the use of a keyboard and screen, thus communication can only be made through text-only channels. For example, a sample question would contain something along the lines of “What did you think about the weather this morning?” and adequate responses could include, “I do tend to like a nice foggy morning, as it adds a certain mystery” or rather “Not the best, expecting pirates to come out of the fog” or even “The weather is not nice at the moment, unless you like fog”. After a series of tests are performed, if the interrogator fails at identifying the subject more than 70 percent of the time, that subject is deemed intelligent. Simply put, the interrogator’s ability to declare the machine’s capability of intelligence directly correlates to the interrogator’s inability to distinguish between the two subjects.
"My name is Dorothy," said the girl, "and I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the Oz to send me back to Kansas."
For years philosophers have enquired into the nature of the mind, and specifically the mysteries of intelligence and consciousness. (O’Brien 2017) One of these mysteries is how a material object, the brain, can produce thoughts and rational reasoning. The Computational Theory of Mind (CTM) was devised in response to this problem, and suggests that the brain is quite literally a computer, and that thinking is essentially computation. (BOOK) This idea was first theorised by philosopher Hilary Putnam, but was later developed by Jerry Fodor, and continues to be further investigated today as cognitive science, modern computers, and artificial intelligence continue to advance. [REF] Computer processing machines ‘think’ by recognising information
Artificial Intelligence is a term not too widely used in today’s society. With today’s technology we haven’t found a way to enable someone to leave their physical body and let their mind survive within a computer. Could it be possible? Maybe someday, but for now it’s just in theory. The novel by William Gibson, Neuromancer, has touched greatly on the idea of artificial intelligence. He describes it as a world where many things are possible. By simply logging on the computer, it opens up a world we could never comprehend. The possibilities are endless in the world of William Gibson.
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.
Well as I said we first must define ‘to think’. What does that mean? Webster’s New Compact Dictionary defines ‘think’ as "1. Have a mind. 2. Believe. 3. Employ the mind.". It defines mind as ‘to think’. So does this mean that if you can think does this mean you have a mind? My opinion is that, according to this definition, computers can think. A computer can give you an answer to the question ‘What is 4x13?’, so it can think. What’s that? You say it’s just programmed to do that, if no one programmed it wouldn’t be able to do that. Well how did you know how to answer the question? Your teacher or parent’s or someone taught it to you. So you were programmed, same as the computer was.
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
In order to see how artificial intelligence plays a role on today’s society, I believe it is important to dispel any misconceptions about what artificial intelligence is. Artificial intelligence has been defined many different ways, but the commonality between all of them is that artificial intelligence theory and development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks that would normally require a human intelligence such as decision making, visual recognition, or speech recognition. However, human intelligence is a very ambiguous term. I believe there are three main attributes an artificial intelligence system has that makes it representative of human intelligence (Source 1). The first is problem solving, the ability to look ahead several steps in the decision making process and being able to choose the best solution (Source 1). The second is the representation of knowledge (Source 1). While knowledge is usually gained through experience or education, intelligent agents could very well possibly have a different form of knowledge. Access to the internet, the la...
Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.
Scientists claim that devices with Artificial Intelligence will replace office workers during next 5 years (Maksimova).According to this statement it is possible to say that AI has a great influence on humanity. Pursuant to Oxford Dictionary Artificial Intelligence or AI is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages(dictionary).Firstly, this research will analyze positive and negative impacts of development of Artificial Intelligence on economic sphere. Then, author going to discuss social effects of Artificial Intelligence. After the considering all perspectives that link to this topic, the last step will be to draw a conclusion.
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.