Philosophical Foundations Chapter 26. Searle v. Dreyfus argument §Dreyfus argues that computers...
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Transcript of Philosophical Foundations Chapter 26. Searle v. Dreyfus argument §Dreyfus argues that computers...
Searle v. Dreyfus argumentDreyfus argues that computers will never be
able to simulate intelligenceSearle, on the other hand, allows that
computers may someday be able to pass the Turing test [they can simulate human intelligence] However, does this mean that computers are
intelligent? Is simulation duplication? Attack on the Turing test Directed against strong AI
Simulation v. duplication
No one would suppose that we could produce milk and sugar by running a computer simulation of the formal sequences in lactation and photosynthesis
No one supposes that computer simulations of a five-alarm fire will burn the neighborhood down or that a computer simulation of a rainstorm will leave us all drenched
MotivationThe Turing test is an inadequate determination of
intelligence [only deals with simulation]The Turing test is an example of behaviorism
‘states’ are defined by how they make people act• happiness is acting happy• love is acting in a loving manner• intelligence is acting in an intelligent manner• to understand the word ‘knife’ means to be able to use it
But behaviorism is inadequate since love & happiness are more than simply the way in
which a person acts, so too must be intelligence to be x, a person must be in the correct ‘state’
Is behaviorism plausible?Dualism is the belief that there are two substances
that make up human beings: minds & bodiesThese two substances are absolutely different &
incompatibleThus, to understand the mind we need not
concern ourselves with the body the mind can be abstracted from its ‘implementation’
in the brain [behaviorism]
Does AI thus subscribe to dualism?Dualism is rejected by most philosophers
Alternative to dualismBiological naturalism says that
consciousness, intentionality, etc. are caused/produced by the brain in the same way that bile is produced by the stomach there thus aren’t two substances rather, the so-called mental phenomena is
simply a result of the physical process realism?
There is something essentially biological about the human mind
ArgumentTo show behaviorism is inadequate for
understanding/consciousness, Searle designed a famous thought experiment in which he is locked in a room
Under the door are slipped various Chinese characters which he does not understand
In the room with him is a rule set (in English) that tells him how to manipulate the characters that come under the door and what characters to slip back under the door, and a pad of paper for making intermediate calculations
Argument continued
The Chinese characters slipped under the door are called ‘stories’ and ‘questions’ by the people providing them
The characters that Searle returns to the outside world are called ‘answers’
The answers perfectly answer the questions about the stories that he was given
To an outside observer, it appears that Searle understands Chinese!
Argument concluded
However, it is manifest [given] that Searle doesn’t understand the stories, the questions or the answers he is giving he doesn’t understand Chinese!
Thus, since intelligence requires a ‘state of understanding’ (the story must mean something to you), Searle can’t be said to understand Chinese although he gives the correct answers correct input/output, but no understanding
ConclusionsSimilarly, just because a computer can produce
the correct answers doesn’t mean that it is intelligent
Merely manipulating meaningless symbols is inadequate for intelligence; a ‘state of intelligence’ (intentionality) is also needed what does it mean when I say x is intelligent? problems with the behaviorist definition
Thus, a computer can pass the Turing test and still not be said to be intelligent
Abstracting the argument [givens]Brains cause minds [empirical fact]Syntax [formalism] is not sufficient for semantics
[contents] syntax & semantics are qualitatively different aspects & no
qualitative increase of the former will ever produce the latter
Computer programs are entirely defined by their formal, or syntactical, structure [definition] the symbols have no meaning; they have no semantic
content; they are not about anything
Minds have mental contents; specifically they have semantic contents [empirical fact]
Conclusions I
No program by itself is sufficient to give a system a mind. Programs, in short, are not minds, and they are not by themselves sufficient for having minds
The way that brain functions cause minds cannot be solely in virtue of running a computer program
Conclusions IIAnything else that caused minds would have
to have causal powers at least equivalent to those of the brain
For any artifact that we might build which had mental states equivalent to human mental states, the implementation of a computer program would not by itself be sufficient. Rather the artifact would have to have powers equivalent to the powers of the human brain
The expected conclusion
The brain has the causal power to give rise to intentional [semantic] states
Computer programs can’t give rise to intentional [semantic] states since they’re only syntax
Thus, computer programs are not of the same causal power as brains
Thus, computer programs can’t give rise to the mind & consciousness
Systems replyObjection: Perhaps not the man in the room,
nor the rules in English, nor the scratch paper understand anything, but the system taken as a whole can be said to understand
Answer: Put the room within a single person make the person memorize the rules, etc. thus, there is no system the person still can’t be said to understand syntactic information processing sub-systems
can’t give rise to semantic content [can’t be called intelligent]
Information processingFurther, it seems that if all we are requiring for
intelligence is information processing, then everything can be seen as doing information processing
But this leads to a contradiction we don’t want to say that the stomach or a
thunderstorm is intelligent• the stomach takes in something [food], processes it
[digests it], and puts something out [energy]• but if our definition of intelligence is that it is
‘information processing’, why isn’t the stomach intelligent?
Russell & NorvigCertain kinds of objects are incapable of conscious
understanding (of Chinese)The human, paper, and rule book are of this kindIf each of a set of objects is incapable of conscious
understanding, then any system constructed from the objects is incapable of conscious understanding
Therefore, there is no conscious understanding in the Chinese room [as a whole]
But molecules, which make up brains, have no understanding [cf. Brain simulation reply]
Robot replyObjection: If a robot was perceiving & acting
in the world, then it would be intelligent intentionality arises from being in a world
Answer: Put the Chinese room in the robot’s head give the robot’s perceptions to the Chinese room
as Chinese characters & give the directions to the robot in terms of Chinese characters
we are in the same spot we were before: no intentionality because everything is still happening formally
Brain simulation replyObjection: Simulate the actual sequence of
neuron firings at the synapses of the brain of a native Chinese speaker when he understands stories in Chinese and gives replies to them
Answer: This simulates the wrong things about the brain As long as it simulates only the formal structure of
the sequence of neuron firings at the synapses, it won’t have simulated what matters about the brain, namely its causal properties, its ability to produce intentional states
Other minds replyObjection: How do we know someone
understands Chinese? --Only by their behaviorAnswer: The problem in this discussion is not
about how I know that other people have cognitive states, but rather what it is that I am attributing to them when I attribute cognitive states to them The thrust of the argument is that it couldn’t be
just computational processes and their output because the computational processes and their output can exist without the cognitive state
Minds & machinesMachines can think; we just are machines!However, computational processes over
formally defined elements is insufficient i.e., a computer program is insufficient formal elements can’t give rise to intentional states they can only give rise to the next state in the
computational device only syntax, no semantics interpretation is in the eyes of the beholder
Meaning of the Chinese RoomPoint of the Chinese room example: adding a formal
system doesn’t suddenly make the man understand Chinese The formal system doesn’t endow the man with
intentionality vis-à-vis Chinese Why would we expect it to endow a computer with
intentionality?
E.g., Computers don’t know that ‘4’ means 4Only more & more symbols; never grounds out on
meaning