We live in an era of intelligent technology where our watches tell us not only the time, but they also remind us to exercise. Our phones recommend the best places to hang out, and our computers predict our preferences, helping us to do our daily work more efficiently. However, all of these digital assistants demonstrate only a tiny sliver of artificial intelligence, and it’s plain to see how we’re still ages away from Skynet and Blade Runner scenarios.
Or are we?
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there is no question that mankind has made tremendous progress in the field of robotics. While modern robots can now replicate the movements and actions of humans, the next challenge lies in teaching robots to think for themselves and react …show more content…
This is precisely because current artificial intelligence is not akin to human intelligence, and poorly designed autonomous systems have the potential to rapidly escalate dangerous situations to catastrophic conclusions when pitted against each other.
Nonetheless, I believe three fundamental problems explain why computational artificial intelligence has historically failed to replicate human mentality:
1. Computers lack genuine understanding. The Chinese Room Argument is a famous thought experiment by US philosopher John Searle that shows how a computer program can appear to understand Chinese stories (by responding to questions about them appropriately) without genuinely understanding anything of the interaction.
2. Computers lack consciousness like scientific curiosity, benevolent concern for others, spiritual enlightenment and contemplation, a taste for refined culture or for the simple pleasures in life, humility and selflessness, and so forth.
3. Computers lack mathematical insight because the way mathematicians provide many of the "unassailable demonstrations" to verify their mathematical assertions is fundamentally non-algorithmic and
Or are we?
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there is no question that mankind has made tremendous progress in the field of robotics. While modern robots can now replicate the movements and actions of humans, the next challenge lies in teaching robots to think for themselves and react …show more content…
This is precisely because current artificial intelligence is not akin to human intelligence, and poorly designed autonomous systems have the potential to rapidly escalate dangerous situations to catastrophic conclusions when pitted against each other.
Nonetheless, I believe three fundamental problems explain why computational artificial intelligence has historically failed to replicate human mentality:
1. Computers lack genuine understanding. The Chinese Room Argument is a famous thought experiment by US philosopher John Searle that shows how a computer program can appear to understand Chinese stories (by responding to questions about them appropriately) without genuinely understanding anything of the interaction.
2. Computers lack consciousness like scientific curiosity, benevolent concern for others, spiritual enlightenment and contemplation, a taste for refined culture or for the simple pleasures in life, humility and selflessness, and so forth.
3. Computers lack mathematical insight because the way mathematicians provide many of the "unassailable demonstrations" to verify their mathematical assertions is fundamentally non-algorithmic and