Capilano University
The Intelligent Machine
Can Computer Think?
Rio Jeremy
100022638
Philosophy 102
Dr. Martin Godwyn
March 31, 2012
1511 Words
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Can a computer think? One might says it cannot since it is only a
machine. However I argue that it is correct to think that computer can
actually think like human does. To do that I will appropriately argue first by
defining the word ‘think’ as we understand it, then address the skeptic
argument with the three-stage model, followed by the common examples of
intelligence within a computer nowadays, and finally talks about Alan
Turing and the impact of his paper whiles at the same time providing
enough examples to back the claim that computer indeed can think.
Today, we have advance machines or computers that can play tennis, translate language,
have conversation with a human, solve mathematical problems, and so much more. This
phenomenon begs the question that been around us for a while, “In principle, can a digital
computer think?” I believe that yes indeed, in principle they can think. In this paper, I will
explain thoroughly while raising certain points about why I believe that computer can think.
First, we will define what is the meaning of the word ‘think’ for our base argument, then we will
look at the three-stage model I developed, address the issue of the skeptic, and finally we will
talk about Alan Turing and how his test prove to be relevant while at the same time giving
examples of nowadays technology.
Using Merriam-Webster dictionary, to ‘think’ is to have a mind. So when somebody ask
“What is two multiply by two?” one tend to ‘think’ by calculating inside the head and answer
“four”. When one ask the same question to a computer, it will be able to answer just as quickly if
not quicker. So does the computer can also think? The skeptic might says no because the
computer can answer that simply because it was programmed to answer that. But how about one
self? How can one answer the question in the first place without being ‘programmed’ by the
teacher teaching mathematics? It is practically the same. Another example would be a new-born
baby. Can such a being survives without getting supervised by an adult who is more ‘advance’ in
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terms of development and survival skill? A baby will certainly feel hunger and will show it in
tears and cry however they do not know why they are crying and how to overcome this feeling of
hunger. By constant feeding from the parents, the baby soon realized the key aspects of life. This
whole process of learning is similar if not the same by principle to a computer program. When
the baby does not know why they are hungry, they are like error messages in a computer. They
do not know how to solve it until they encounter it, and could not find the solution by itself (for
human, the parents must taught the baby how to tackle the problem of hunger by giving food and
for computer, the developer must intervene to let the computer knows what is the solution for the
problem).
People experienced with computers might say that computer cannot think and only be
able to follow a rule book. The outline for a computer is brought to a simple three-stage model:
input, process, and output. If we are able to see computers using this simplistic model, we ought
to accept a simple model of the human mind as well. For computer, the input devices are
keyboard, mouse, and many other devices. For human, our sensory inputs of touch, hearing,
sight, taste, and smell are our input devices, without these there are nothing for our mind to
consider. From these input devices, information is supplied to the central processing unit, or to
the mind respectively. Then the processing unit for the computer and the mind for human,
analyzes the information given by the inputs and concludes to determine what action is
necessary. For example, if one see and smell a peanut, one must determine whether to eat it or
not given the circumstances based on the surrounding and already known knowledge such as an
allergy, then in the end one decides not to. This is the output that the processing unit in a
computer or the mind in a human generates. It could be a physical means, using the power of the
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body, or just storing the conclusion in the databank (memory) for future use. Using this simple
three-stage model, the mind essentially operates in exactly the same way as the computer. We
can assume that when a computer process an input into an output, it is the same way as a human
thinking whether or not to eat the peanut as previously mentioned, in other words we can safely
say that we are able to tell when a computer thinks.
Does this means we can simulate human beings by using the simple three-stage model?
The skeptic would probably say no because the complexity of human being in terms of
intelligent cannot be perform by artificial intelligent. However, the car manufacturer Honda build
a humanoid robot as early as in 1986, it is called ASIMO. Since then, Honda keep developing the
robot as we speak right now. ASIMO can run, walk on uneven slopes and surfaces, climb stairs,
and comprehend many questions as would a normal human being can (Hornyak 104). What is
significant about ASIMO is its ability to recognize objects, gestures, and sound; ASIMO will
give a handshake to an outstretched hand, respond when its called, and more importantly, work
out the identity of an unfamiliar object by comparing it to similar items in its memory banks.
Does playing chess require intelligence? Many would argue that intelligence is needed to be able
to play chess let alone good at it. Gary Kasparov is a former world champion in chess, he won
the 1984 world championship and successfully defended his title until 1993 (Kasparov 1). The
giant American computing company IBM developed a chess-playing computer called the Deep
Blue. In 1997, Kasparov was beaten by the Deep blue in chess match showing its intelligence at
chess. There are many more examples for this type of intelligence in a computer based program
that shows the level of intelligence in a computer. For example, an intelligent person might be
able to translate a language, but so does Google Translate. Intelligent acquired by human are
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thought to be earned from studying the patterns over time and actually becomes better at that
particular thing, however if the computers can do all those things mentioned above, we should
consider that a computer might have the intelligence within it.
Alan Turing is a well-known scientist that wrote his radical paper “Computing Machinery
and Intelligence” and came up with a test called the Turing Test. In a nutshell, the Turing Test
was a simple test which shows a computer having a conversation with a human being. The
objective of the test was to show that if the computer could make the interrogator thinks that he
was talking to another human being instead of a machine, then the artificial intelligence pass the
test. However, Turing is very careful to explain that his test is about imitating human mind, not
the human itself: “We do not wish to penalize the machine for its inability to shine in beauty
competitions, nor to penalize a man for losing in a race against an aeroplane” (Turing 2). When
Turing wrote his paper in 1950, he believes that in 50 year time, approximately at the turn of the
century, future artificial intelligence will be able to pass the test. Indeed his prediction sort of
came true when the bronze award won by an A.I named ALICE in the annual competition of
Loebner Prize. Nowadays with technological advancement that we experienced, we as human
has created many amazing computers that have human-like intelligence. Quick example comes
to mind is Apple.Inc’s great software called Siri. Siri is a software capable of answering
questions, make recommendation, and perform action within its device whiles at the same time
adapt to the user’s personal preferences over time and personalized its result during its course
(Sadun 1). From the development of computing based technology we can see that computer will
prosper and develops even more rapidly to become one of the greatest invention of human kind.
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To conclude, being a functionalist I think that human mind is an advanced computer. We
can see from our examples mentioned above, computers can perform just as human can. The
human mind contains ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ just like a computer. The hardware for human is
the electro chemical pathways and neurons in the brain whereas in the computer it is the wires,
CPU, and motherboard to name a few. Both human mind and computer have the software which
is the program within our brain. A computer takes and execute programs, this is what the human
mind does eventually but on a more complex level. People will say that a computer lacks the
capability to understand but how do we know it does not? Jack Copeland who wrote and edited
books on Alan Turing says in his book Artificial Intelligence: A philosophical Introduction that
machine as a whole will understand but take individual parts and it will not (209). This is the
same in the our human brain, if one take a single neuron out of our brain, it will understand
nothing when if one leave the single neuron to be part of nerve system as a whole it will
understand. Having said that, I believe that computer are able to think just like human does and
the human mind is just a complex computer to say the least.
Jeremy
Works Cited
Copeland, Jack. Artificial Intelligence: A Philosophical Introduction. US: Wiley-Blackwell
Press, December 1993.
Hornyak, Timothy N. Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots. Japan:
Kodansha, 2006.
Kasparov, Garry., Jon Speelman, and Bob Wade. Garry Kasparov’s Fighting Chess. US: Henry
Holt & Co, 1995.
Sadun, Erica, Steve Sande. Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple’s Intelligent
Assistant. US: Que, 2012.
Turing, A. M. “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Mind, Vol. 59, No. 236. (1950), pp.
443-460.
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