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04 Philosophy of AI

The document explores the philosophy of artificial intelligence, questioning whether machines can think, have free will, be conscious, or feel. It distinguishes between strong AI, which may possess minds, and weak AI, which only simulates intelligence. Key arguments from figures like Alan Turing and John Searle are presented to support the notion that current computers lack true thought and emotional capacity.

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veloriarushialyn2020
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38 views16 pages

04 Philosophy of AI

The document explores the philosophy of artificial intelligence, questioning whether machines can think, have free will, be conscious, or feel. It distinguishes between strong AI, which may possess minds, and weak AI, which only simulates intelligence. Key arguments from figures like Alan Turing and John Searle are presented to support the notion that current computers lack true thought and emotional capacity.

Uploaded by

veloriarushialyn2020
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Philosophy of

Artificial
Intelligence
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
What is the Philosophy of AI?

What is “strong” versus “weak” AI?

Can a computer “think”?

Outline
Can a computer have a “free will”?

Can a computer be conscious?

Can a computer “feel”?


What is the Philosophy of AI
• The philosophy of AI asks the
question of whether
computers, machines in
general, or for that matter
anything that is not of natural
origin can be said to have a
mind, and/ or to think.
What is “strong” versus
“weak” AI?
Strong vs Weak AI
• Strong AI
• machines do or ultimately will have minds
• has a complex algorithm that helps it act in different situations
• poker AI which can teach itself to adapt to and outsmart the skills of human
opponents
• Weak AI
• they merely simulate, rather than duplicate, real intelligence
• pre-programmed by a human
• iPhone’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa (voice-activated assistance usually has a
programmed response)
• sense or ‘scan’ for things that are similar to what they already know, and
classify them accordingly
• The distinction is between whether machines can be truly
intelligent or simply able to act “as if” they are intelligent.
Can a computer think?
Computer manipulating capabilities = thinking?
• 1950 essay entitled “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”
by English mathematician Alan Turing
• Imitation Game
• An interrogator in a separate room, communicating with a man and a
woman only through written communication (preferably typed),
attempting to guess which is the man and which is the woman.
• The machine replaced the woman and is tasked with fooling the
interrogator into thinking it is the man, while the man is telling the truth
about who he is.
Computers can’t think
• John Searle, professor of philosophy at the University of
California at Berkeley
• computers can’t “think” since they don’t actually mean or do
anything — at best, they manipulate symbols
• Humans the ones associating their computations with the
external world
Can a computer have free
will?
• Humans, and possibly some animals, have free will, but can a
machine or a computer also have free will?
• Computers may not have free will because they are different
from us in two key respect:
• they work according to well- understood engineering principles and
so can always be predicted;
• they can’t consider choices in the same sense that people do
Can a computer be
conscious?
Can computers be conscious?
• Some researchers tie consciousness to the role of emotional
states and physical embodiment
• Certainly seen no evidence of it to date
Can a computer feel?
Can a computer “feel”?
• It’s relatively simple to build a robot that flinches, cries out, and/
or simply says, “Ouch, that hurts” when you pinch it. But does
that say anything about whether it feels pain?
• Since computers are so different from us (at least today) and
are designed by us for specific purposes (as opposed to
naturally occurring), it seems logical to say they don’t, and most
likely never will, have real feelings.
Questions?

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