The ‘Turing Test’ was invented by Alan Turing in the 1950’s to test a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligence, indistinguishable from that of Humans. The questions that were raised through this test are very relevant to our class.
- Can machines think?
- Are Humans playing “God” by creating other seemingly intelligible devices?
I think that the intelligibility of computers and their ability to archive, store and solve problems, that now exceed the mental capacity of Humans, is incredible. It also demands a re-evaluation of human consciousness in that we have essentially created this “higher power”. These lifeless yet thoughtful contraptions are extensions of the human. On one hand they have allowed for an increase in knowledge made completely accessible. On the other hand, this accessibility has perhaps decreased the need for Human thought. Is it even necessary to remember anymore?
Though we have created a mechanism to know more, perhaps we as individuals will know less; or at least the concept of “knowing” will change.
I have, in the past, considered consciousness as my ability to think. To take in data from the world around me, and come to a partial understanding of what is happening; but isn’t this exactly what a computer does? If you think about it, the inside of a computer is mimicking human anatomy.
What is so mystifying about consciousness is we don’t know how it works. Yet we recognize ourselves, and we are able to connect to the beings around us. Seri isn’t so far from doing the same. Though one may ague that “she” has been programed to do so; haven’t we all?
I haven’t fully formulated my opinion on the matter, but it is a fascinating question nonetheless.
I agree with your interpretation of how people and computers, are we the same? People are programmed to think in a certain way from the efforts of society. Rousseau states that when we distance ourselves from everything do we really begin to live; we don’t need others telling us what to do. However we have become so absorbed with what others tell us that we’ve lost our entire ability to have consciousness beyond what we already know.
ReplyDeleteAs we have so many forms of machinery I think we have lost touch of who we really are as we hide behind things like our profile pictures and our timelines on things like Facebook. In a sense we are machines, we do archive store and take in information and in terms of what we can know. However, unlike computers we are in charge of our lives, and can remove and delete things that we do not want around. Actually we are more alike computers, as we can go back to a memory and remember something instantly, but differently from computers do we not have to back ourselves up or completely crash when things go wrong. We have ways around that.
However, in terms of personality and such, all computers are built the same and humans, are all built differently. We do occasionally crash when we are under a lot of pressure, but differently from computers do we not have to go to mechanic repair places. With that said, one could argue that rehab is a lot like computer repair. We go there to be fixed and when we come out we are meant to be fixed, but eventually we break down again.
Is there really a big difference between us and computers or are we just built from different fibres?
ReplyDeleteIt is a fascinating question to compare the intelligence of computers to that of humans. However, I believe that our intelligence has manifested itself into our inventions as a way of utilizing our knowledge and creativity to the fullest. Something that computers do not have that we do (applicable to hopefully most) is our innate sense of right and wrong. Computers do not make independent conscious decisions concerning what to research on the Internet and information that they store. People do. And here lies the problem, causing me much anxiety and anticipation, what are the consequences when men and women who do not have this innate sense of right and wrong take advantage of the limitless sensitive information accessed by technology? By sensitive I mean either private or potentially harmful to others. Is it possible that one person may create virus or code so that they may themselves benefit from others confidence in technology- could one man potentially own every citizens identity and credit in the palm of his hands? Here is a taste of the capabilities of the iCloud, and what it means to people who use it.
“Now iCloud can keep track of your account names, passwords, and credit card numbers for you. It doesn’t just remember them; it can help you create them. Password Generator suggests unique, hard-to-guess passwords for your online accounts. Then Safari can enter your passwords automatically whenever you need to sign in or complete an online purchase. iCloud stores all the stuff you can’t live without — your calendars, contacts, and email — and keeps it up to date across all your devices. Say you delete an email, add a calendar event, or update a contact. iCloud makes all your changes everywhere. You have all sorts of important stuff on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, like your photos and videos. iCloud automatically backs it up daily over Wi-Fi when your device is connected to a power source. You don’t have to do a thing. And when you set up a new iOS device or need to restore information on one you already have, iCloud Backup does the heavy lifting. Connect your device to Wi-Fi and enter your Apple ID and password. Your personal data — along with your purchased music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books — will appear on your device, automatically.”- http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/ I think we should be more conscious of how much trust we place in the manifestation of our intelligence, and whether human nature will always prove to be profoundly righteous in it’s use.
The notion that we as humans even have to create a test that scores and artificial intelligence's ability to match our conscious capabilities is truly remarkable. Although these computer's are a product of our skill, is there a possibility that they will eventually outdo us? If you think about it, we already rely on our machines for so many functions, that we have sort of outdated doing many things on our own without AI's assistance. Is it not too drastic of an idea to think that we might created computer's and other AI's that will be capable of "learning" through algorithms we have programmed initially?
ReplyDeleteEssentially, I feel that a sort of codependency has ultimately come of our technological age, where we rely heavily on our machinery and the machinery relies on us to create it. However, with our own higher thinking capabilities, I think it is possible to speculate that we have played God and will continue to do so as our own AI grows.