Philosopher Alan Turing

Essay # 66734

Philosophy > Epistemology
Philosophy > History - 20th Century
Philosophy > Metaphysics

This paper discusses Alan Turing's Turing Test and the Computational Theory of Mind.

1,680 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2004 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, using the philosophy of Alan Turing, the Turing Test examines the premise that a machine is deemed intelligent if it is able to perform the same functions as a human. The paper points out that Turning agrees with the Computational Theory of Mind, which is the idea that information processing in the mind is almost identical to the information processing in a digital computer; therefore, a thought can essentially be compared to a computation with the mind as the software and the brain as the actual hardware. The paper agrees with Turing that intelligence is essentially computational and concludes that Turing and his variation on the Imitation Game have had a long lasting impact in the realm of artificial intelligence.

From the Paper:

"The previous arguments against the Computational Theory of Mind are fascinating; however, John Searle's "Chinese Room" argument is much more thought provoking. This experiment entails an individual being placed in a role analogous to that of a motherboard of a computer, and he is unable to communicate with anyone, the only way he is to communicate is through symbolic communications that are written in Chinese, which is a language that the individual in the test would not understand. Therefore, he is unable to process what information is being thrown at him, yet his job is to produce 'meaningful responses.' Therefore, he is given a booklet of responses to type in or write down when he receives a certain symbol . Therefore, he has a book, which tells him exactly how to respond if he is given a specific symbol or set of symbols. Therefore, the individual is able to give responses that many would deem to be reasonably formulated, yet he has no understanding of what he has done."