Thought Experiments
There are several thought experiments which can help us to understand what A.I. would be (if achieved) and what it isn't. What's interesting about the comparison is that it is essentially the difference between human intelligence and the way computers currently work based on brute-force operations.
The Turing Test:
Alan Turing was a brilliant British mathematician and key codebreaker during WWII. In fact, his ability to break German encrypted communication was instrumental in defeating the Nazis. Today, Turing is the subject of British pride and shame because of what was done to Turing after the conflict; because of Turing's homosexuality, he was forced to endure grotesque treatments to "cure" his condition.
Besides his codebreaking, Turing was one of the first in the modern era to propose, "Can a machine think?" In Turing's case, he devised a novel method for answering the question. Rather than consider what is going on "inside" the machine, Turing proposed looking at the behavior of the machine to determine whether it had achieved "intelligence." This is where he proposed The Turing Test which involved a study with three participants: a human questioner/interrogator, a human respondent, and a machine respondent. Each member would be isolated in his/her/its own room and the questioner would not know if he or she was communicating with another human being or the machine; that is, until the questions begin.
Chinese Room Thought Experiment:
Alan Turing was a brilliant British mathematician and key codebreaker during WWII. In fact, his ability to break German encrypted communication was instrumental in defeating the Nazis. Today, Turing is the subject of British pride and shame because of what was done to Turing after the conflict; because of Turing's homosexuality, he was forced to endure grotesque treatments to "cure" his condition.
Besides his codebreaking, Turing was one of the first in the modern era to propose, "Can a machine think?" In Turing's case, he devised a novel method for answering the question. Rather than consider what is going on "inside" the machine, Turing proposed looking at the behavior of the machine to determine whether it had achieved "intelligence." This is where he proposed The Turing Test which involved a study with three participants: a human questioner/interrogator, a human respondent, and a machine respondent. Each member would be isolated in his/her/its own room and the questioner would not know if he or she was communicating with another human being or the machine; that is, until the questions begin.
Chinese Room Thought Experiment:
