ipl-logo

The Chinese Room Argument

470 Words2 Pages

John Searle believes that machines are not capable of “thinking” as humans and he developed the Chinese Room to support his theory (Searle). The Chinese Room argument is meant to prove that strong artificial intelligence does not have human intelligence. Searle describes this as human intentionality (Searle).
The Chinese Room argument involves a person, fluent in English only, sitting in a room. The person is given two sets of Chinese writing and a “rule book” to associate the two sets. The person does not know Chinese and is not able to distinguish Chinese from other similar languages. The symbols are no more than what Searle calls “meaningless squiggles” (Searle). A third set of Chinese characters is introduced with a set of rules that associate …show more content…

However, after further analyzing his theory, I’m not certain the Chinese Room proves strong artificial intelligence is incapable of ‘’thinking.” The Chinese Room theory is dependent upon the “rule book.” This appears a very simple question and answer theory. What if the “rule book” was altered? What if the computer was told to analyze data using automated reasoning as demonstrated with IBM’s WATSON? Reason is the power of the mind to think and understand in a logical way (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reason). If I accept this definition of reason, then it is possible for computers to “think.” However, I do not believe computers are capable of intentionality. Intentionality is the power of minds to be about, to represent, or to stand for, things, properties and states of affairs (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/intentionality/). Searle’s Chinese Room demonstrates that computers are incapable of intentionality. I could argue against the idea that machines are incapable of “thinking;” however, Searle’s theory demonstrates that machines are not capable of

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    224 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, the author, Nicholas Carr, is arguing against the effect of our increased access to information. He is unsettled by the common idea that we’d all “be better off” if our brains were supplemented, or even replaced, by an artificial intelligence. Carr describes how am immediate access to a rich store of information from the Net has shaped his process of thought by reducing his capacity for concentration and contemplation. He is worried that placing efficiency and immediacy above all else is weakening our capacity to make rich mental connections that form when we read deeply without distraction. Carr uses an anecdote of the printing press to demonstrate how equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    512 Words  | 3 Pages

    He introduces a concept called “intellectual technologies” meaning that we essentially embody the technology we possess. Carr uses the mechanical clock as an example of this by saying, The attention is then turned to Google. The creators admit to desiring to devise something just “as smart as people—or smarter.” The developers believe that they are genuinely working on solving the currently unsolvable–artificial intelligence on a gigantic scale. Carr makes a point to mention that the fact they say humans would be “better off” is worrisome.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mccandless And The Transcendentalists

    1339 Words  | 6 Pages

    AI or artificial intelligence is not a modern concept, but rather a field of research that dates back to the mid-twentieth century. More recently though, privately owned Open AI has created a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to respond to human formed questions. Gaining a public interest, Chat GPT satisfactorily passed a UPENN Wharton Business Exam, ranking notable scores in the English section, but unsatisfactory levels in the math section. When tasked with comparing the principles of the transcendentalists with Christopher Mccandless from Into the Wild, GPT produces an unsatisfactory essay. Although Chat GPT compares the transcendentalist lifestyle of Christopher Mccandless and the Transcendentalists logically, many of the arguments

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    1056 Words  | 5 Pages

    He suggests humans have more controlling over machines. He supports his thought by referring to computers in chess that “the computer has no intuition at all, it analyzes the game using brute force [and] inspects the pieces currently on the board, then calculates all options” (Thompson 343). He points out that the way computer thinks is “fundamentally unhuman” and it is the player who runs the program and decides which moves to take (Thompson 343). After all, computers are just tools that we use to optimize accuracy and

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Ethos By Sherry Turkle

    785 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sherry Turkle has quite an interesting view on today`s “wired” world and the concept of being alone together. Therefore, the author is clearly convinced that the world of technology has deprived us of some of the most basic social skills. Although technology can literally grant us unlimited access to the information of the world in which we live today, I too consider that technology does represent a danger on the way we use to socialize before and now. As a result, Turkle does a marvelous job of introducing her beliefs as well as what it could be consider strong evidence to convince her readers making her argument a reasoning sound. It is quite clear that the author showcases Ethos by displaying clear evidence on both areas; logos and ethos.

    Read More

  • Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    In agreement, the intelligence of our brain is flattening into artificial intelligence and we are heavily rely on it. As pancake, we are becoming less and less dense of our dense cultural inheritance while spreading a search wide

    Read More

  • Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    875 Words  | 4 Pages

    What this means is the things that are being continuously made are changing our critical thinking skills. Thompson central claim is that computers are not as smart as humans, but once you have been using them over a certain amount of time you seem to get better at working them and that’s what really makes you more efficient in using them. The point that I don’t agree with Carr on is “Their thoughts and actions fell scripped, as if they're following the steps of an algorithm (p.328.)” I don’t agree with Carr’s argument here because he’s emphasizing that human thoughts are being scripted and we don’t think about things critically, but not all of our thinking

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

    520 Words  | 3 Pages

    As far as we know, we could unknowingly be moving ourselves to technology that can start to think for itself. such as the co-captain from wall-e.

    Read More

  • Douglas Eldridge's Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    1367 Words  | 6 Pages

    Based upon the analysis, Parnas’ article is geared more towards people involved in the field of Artificial Intelligence where Eldridge’s article is geared towards people who are not necessarily knowledgeable about Artificial Intelligence yet are interested to learn more about the topic. Throughout the article, Parnas maintains the skeptical attitude towards Artificial Intelligence, literally ending with “Devices that use heuristics to create the illusion of Intelligence present a risk we should not accept” (Parnas, 6). Eldridge on the other hand, maintains a positive attitude throughout the article despite the shortcomings of AI. Together, both authors provide compelling arguments for and against Artificial

    Read More

  • Summary Of Alan Turing's Computing Machinery And Intelligence?

    996 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Alan Turing’s paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, he proposes a thought experiment that would eventually be tested, and even later be beaten. He describes an experiment where a man and a woman are in two different rooms and an outside observer has to guess at the sexes of the participants. He then suggests that one of the participants be replaced with a computer. Once humanity is unable to tell the difference and will guess that the computer is human at the same rate that it will guess that it is a machine will answer Turing’s thesis of, “Can machines think?’ (434).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Turing Test

    1042 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Turing test has become the most widely accepted test of artificial intelligence and the most influential. There are also considerable arguments that the Turing test is not enough to confirm intelligence. Legg and Hutter (2007) cite Block (1981) and Searle (1980) as arguing that a machine may appear intelligent by using a very large set of

    Read More

  • Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Essay

    798 Words  | 4 Pages

    Artificial Intelligence is the field within computer science to explain some aspects of the human thinking. It includes aspects of intelligence to interact with the environment through sensory means and the ability to make decisions in unforeseen circumstances without human intervention. The beginnings of modern AI can be traced to classical philosophers' attempts to describe human thinking as a symbolic system. MIT cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky and others who attended the conference

    Read More

  • Is Chinese Hard To Learn Essay

    744 Words  | 3 Pages

    Let’s see how to learn Chinese character fast, you can find the

    Read More

  • Statement Of Purpose For Artificial Intelligence

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    The attraction of artificial intelligence for me lies in its breadth of applicability, both as a method of problem solving in itself and in a symbiotic integration with other areas of computer science. A broad spectrum of applications exist within the artificial intelligence field, ranging from intelligent non-player controlled characters in computer game software to a ubiquitous computing solution that intelligently reacts to a variety of users. This diversity is one of the main reasons that I feel compelled to pursue artificial intelligence further. While I have striven to develop my understanding of artificial intelligence during my undergraduate education, the choreographed requirements of a bachelor's degree have restricted my research to only a minute sample of artificial intelligence’s applications. During my exposure to the field, I have often been unsatisfied with the level of interaction artificial intelligence displays in response to prompts of varying complexity.

    Read More

  • Essay On Chinese Culture

    1243 Words  | 5 Pages

    The traditional Chinese cultures have a development process for thousand years, now we are creating another kind of traditional culture especially under the wave of globalization. Although the form of expressing or performing the culture experienced some changes but the basic idea and belief behind rarely changed. To promote Chinese culture we would refer to the essence of Chinese wisdom so the following is actual practicing of different dimensions of Chinese traditions which show the beauty of China. The family concept is the essence of Chinese culture.

    Read More

More about The Chinese Room Argument

Open Document