In chapter seven of the book “Problems from Philosophy”, by James Rachels, the author
Guided us through the process in which the topic of “Could a Machine Think?” Was a question that would arise many arguments and claims to prove its possibilities. The main points to this chapter were the arguments and objections that were trying to answer the following question “Could Machines Think?”. These arguments consisted of the Piecemeal-Replacement Argument, The Tipping Point Objection, The Turing Test, and the Chinese Room argument. This chapter is composed out off arguments and objections that are trying to prove that robots can think. The Piecemeal-Replacement Argument stated that machines could think, and it involved an unrealistic story, which …show more content…
Despite the power of present-day computers, none of them can come close to passing it” (Rachels 89). I was very surprised when I read this statement in this chapter, because present day computers can practically do everything, they pretty much do everything for us, and always answer all our unknown questions, I was very surprised that they weren’t able to pass Turing’s test. I also wonder what computers came the closest to passing it, or if they even came close. “This argument involves a bizarre, unrealistic story. Such stories are called “thought experiments” because you’re merely invented to think about them- you couldn’t possibly set them up in lab” (Rachels 84). This statement made me question why The Piecemeal-Replacement Argument was even applied in this book, why would you put an argument that can’t even be tested; it’s like coming up with a hypothesis without conducting an experiment or collecting any data. I questioned why people came up with these thought experiments, knowing that their answers may most likely be unanswered or incorrect, due to the fact that they cannot be set up in real life. “Alan Turing did not live to see the advances that his work made possible. In 1952, it was discovered that he was gay. For this, the man who had broken the Nazi codes was hauled into a British court, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to endure a hormone “treatment” that made him physically grotesque and
Guided us through the process in which the topic of “Could a Machine Think?” Was a question that would arise many arguments and claims to prove its possibilities. The main points to this chapter were the arguments and objections that were trying to answer the following question “Could Machines Think?”. These arguments consisted of the Piecemeal-Replacement Argument, The Tipping Point Objection, The Turing Test, and the Chinese Room argument. This chapter is composed out off arguments and objections that are trying to prove that robots can think. The Piecemeal-Replacement Argument stated that machines could think, and it involved an unrealistic story, which …show more content…
Despite the power of present-day computers, none of them can come close to passing it” (Rachels 89). I was very surprised when I read this statement in this chapter, because present day computers can practically do everything, they pretty much do everything for us, and always answer all our unknown questions, I was very surprised that they weren’t able to pass Turing’s test. I also wonder what computers came the closest to passing it, or if they even came close. “This argument involves a bizarre, unrealistic story. Such stories are called “thought experiments” because you’re merely invented to think about them- you couldn’t possibly set them up in lab” (Rachels 84). This statement made me question why The Piecemeal-Replacement Argument was even applied in this book, why would you put an argument that can’t even be tested; it’s like coming up with a hypothesis without conducting an experiment or collecting any data. I questioned why people came up with these thought experiments, knowing that their answers may most likely be unanswered or incorrect, due to the fact that they cannot be set up in real life. “Alan Turing did not live to see the advances that his work made possible. In 1952, it was discovered that he was gay. For this, the man who had broken the Nazi codes was hauled into a British court, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to endure a hormone “treatment” that made him physically grotesque and