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| Computers can be subject of own thoughts OpposingArgument1 #214 When a computer solves equations, the equations can be said to be the object of its thought. Similarly when a computer is used to predict its own behaviour or to modify its own program, we can say that it's the object of its own thoughts. | Alan Turing, 1950. |
+Citations (1) - CitationsAdd new citationList by: CiterankMapLink[1] Computing machinery and intelligence. Mind, 59, 433-460.
Author: Alan Turing
Publication info: 1950
Cited by: Price, David 6:05 PM 27 April 2008 GMT
Citerank: (5) 142No: computers can't be creativeComputers can never be creative. They only do what they are programmed to do. They have no originality or creative powers.959C6EF, 160No: the implications too hard to faceThe consequences of machine thought are too dreadful to accept, therefore we should 'stick our heads in the sand' and hope that machines will never be able to think or have souls.959C6EF, 162No: God gave souls to humans not machinesThe theological objection, anticipated by Turing, that only entities with immortal souls can think. God has given souls to humans, but not to machines. Therefore, humans can think and computers can't.959C6EF, 207No: computers are inherently disabled?Machines can never do X, where X is any variety of abilities that are regarded as distinctly human—e.g. being friendly, having a sense of humour, making mistakes, or thinking about oneself. 959C6EF, 265No: ESP would confound the testExtrasensory Perception could invalidate the Turing Test in a variety of ways—eg if a competitor with ESP could "listen in" on the judges & gain an unfair advantage, or a judge with ESP could easily discern humans from machines by clairvoyance.959C6EF
URL: | | Excerpt / Summary "The claim that a machine cannot be the subject of its own thought can of course only be answered if it can be shown that the machine has some thought with some subject matter. Nevertheless, "the subject matter of a machine's operations" does seem to mean something, at least to the people who deal with it. If, for instance, the machine was trying to find a solution of the equation x2 - 40x - 11 = 0 one would be tempted to describe this equation as part of the machine's subject matter at that moment.
In this sort of sense a machine undoubtedly can be its own subject matter. It may be used to help in making up its own programmes, or to predict the effect of alterations in its own structure. By observing the results of its own behaviour it can modify its own programmes so as to achieve some purpose more effectively. These are possibilities of the near future, rather than Utopian dreams." |
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