Record Player Argument
A robot "plays" its behaviour in the same way that a phonograph plays a record. It is just programmed to behave in certain ways.

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The Ziff argument

"Because there are not psychological truths about robots but only about the human makers of robots. Because the way a robot acts (in a specified context) depends primarily on how we programmed it to act. Because we can program a robot to act in any way we what it to act. Because a robot could be programmed to act like a tired man when it lifted a feather and not when it lifted a ton. Because a robot couldn't mean what it said any more than a phonograph record could mean what it said" (P. Ziff, 1959, p. 67-68).

References

Ziff, Paul. 1959. The feelings of robots. Analysis 19(3), January 1959: 64-68.

For example:

"When we laugh at the joke of a robot, we are really appreciating the wit of a human programmer and not the wit of the robot." Putnam, 1964, p.679.

CONTEXT(Help)
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Artificial Intelligence »Artificial Intelligence
Can computers think? [1] »Can computers think? [1]
No: computers can't have free will »No: computers can't have free will
Computers only exhibit the free will of programmers »Computers only exhibit the free will of programmers
Preprogrammed robots have no psychological states »Preprogrammed robots have no psychological states
Record Player Argument
Robot learning response »Robot learning response
Hilary Putnam »Hilary Putnam
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