PHIL 211 1st Edition Exam #3 Study GuideAlan Turing- 1912-54- British mathematician - Responsible for figuring out German code during WWI- One of the founders of Al- “Can machines think?” = “Can machines pass a certain test?”o The Imitation Game or The Turing Test Judge in one room instant messages with a computer in another room and with a person in a third room for a certain period of time- Computer is intelligible if the judge cannot tell who is who Machines = computers- “are there imaginable digital computers which would do well in the imitation game”o Is this a definition of intelligence? o According to his test, if a computer passes, it’s intelligent BUT the Turing Test must NOT be understood as a necessary condition for intelligence;NOT all intelligent beings must be able to pass the Turing Test and THEREFORE the Turning test is NOT definition of intelligence Turning: “may not machines carry out something which out to be described as thinking but which is very different from what a man does? ….if a machine can be constructed to play the imitation game satisfactorily, we need not be troubled by this objection”  Why is it important to measure intelligence with communication? Talking is unique among intelligent abilities. One needs to know certain facts about many different topics Turning predicts: “in about 50 years or so it will be possible to program computers…to make them play the imitation game so well that an average interrogator will not have more than 70 per cent chance of making the right identification after five minutes of questioning” Questions for Turing- 1. Is Turing correct to hold that a machine thinks if it can perform well in the imitation game? - 2. Are there imaginable digital computers which would do well in the imitation game? (1.)Theological Objection- 1. Only beings that have souls can think- 2. Machines do not have souls- 3. Therefore machines do not think- *can we assume that only beings who have souls can think?o Turing responds: this objection says that only souls can think and also assures that animals do not have souls. He says there is no convincing evidence to think that way. If God can give a soul to a human, he can to a machine as well. And saying that God cannot is limiting his powers.(2.)The “Heads in the Sand” Objection- Not an objection but a worry: if machines can think, then humans will not be the most superior creating. Turning rejects it immediately because it is not based on any actual facts (3.) The Mathematical Objection - Some computers cannot answer every question but humans can answer this- Turing: “this is the mathematical objection: it is argued that it proves a disability of machines to which the human intellect is not subject”- Turing also argues that humans can’t answer every question tooo What is the structure of this objection?o 1. There are questions to which machines cannot provide answerso 2. ?o 3. Therefore, machines cannot think o The missing premise: 2. A machine is thinking only if it can answer all questions (too demanding) (4.)The Argument from Consciousness- 1. Only conscious beings/entities can think - 2. Machines are not conscious- 3. Therefore, machines cannot think- Turing: how do we know if someone is conscious? If we accept that other human beings are conscious, then we must also accept that we can determine whether they are conscious by examining their behavior. But if computers and machines can convince us that they are conscious, then we have no reason to think that they are not conscious(5.)Arguments from various disabilities- Machines/computers cannot think for they cannot perform some of the things that humans can; computers do not have traits of kindness, resourcefulness, friendliness, beautiful, etc.- Turing considers some of these but for others he argues that the reason we haven’tmet a respectful machine is because we haven’t met one yet- Machines cannot make mistakes.o Why is this a problem? Couldn’t a machine be programmed to make mistakes? Response: “programmed mistakes” are not really mistakes - Two types of mistakeso Errors of functioning: “errors of functioning are due to some mechanical or electrical fault which causes the machine to behave otherwise than it was designed to do”o Errors of conclusion: errors in the manner in which computers/machines draw conclusions - Both errors are possible, even errors of conclusion: “it (the machine) might have some method for drawing conclusions by scientific induction. We must expect such a method to lead occasionally to erroneous results” - Machines cannot be the subjects of their own thoughtso How do we know that other people have certain thoughts?o We rely on the reportability of thoughts. If so, the machines can also reporttheir “thoughts- Machines don’t learn from experienceo If by “learning” we mean changing one’s behavior in accordance to the input that one receives from the environment, then it seems that machines can learn from experience(6.) Lady Lovelace’s Objection- Machines cannot do anything novel- “It (a machine) can do whatever we know how to order it to perform”- Two-fold objection: machines cannot learn, machines cannot perform original or novel acts- We already considered the first version of the objection- What about the second? Can machines perform novel or original acts? - Is novelty a necessary condition for thinking?(7.)The argument from informality of behavior- Humans do not follow rules, but machines do. Therefore, machines do not think (or they cannot be intelligent)- Suppressed premise: machines must be similar to humans in order to be intelligent- Notice the structure of this objection- Just like the objection from disabilities, it aims to show that machines cannot be intelligent for they are unlike humans. But this presupposes that there is only one kind of intelligence; human intelligence-Humans do not follow rules, but machines do. Therefore, machines do not think (or they cannot be intelligent)- Additional response: it is possible that we are following such rules and that we do not know it. Unconscious rule-following. Are minds computers? (Searle on Computers and Minds)- Can machines think? Are computers minds?o Prevailing view: minds are computers (computation view of the mind)o Stated otherwise: the mind is the brain as the software (or program) is to the hardware Syntax vs. semantics The properties of a