Explanatory Synthesis: Mechanical Future

When someone brings up the term “artificial intelligence”, a variety of connotations tend to arise, connotations that often are unfair or unrepresentative of the true real-world applications of such a term. Due to the incidentally fear-mongering nature of the media, artificial intelligence can refer to something as basic as a robotic arm in a factory, as well as the implied extinction and/or enslavement of the human race as caused by robo-revolution. As of today, however, when applied in the world of modern technology, artificial intelligence is defined as any innovation that performs a task usually completed by humans. Of course, with this definition, artificial intelligence holds the potential for both societal harm and benefit, and its fate

One of the hottest topics that modern science has been focusing on for a long time is the field of artificial intelligence, the study of intelligence in machines or, according to Minsky, “the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men”.(qtd in Copeland 1). Artificial Intelligence has a lot of applications and is used in many areas. “We often don’t notice it but AI is all around us. It is present in computer games, in the cruise control in our cars and the servers that route our email.” (BBC 1). Different goals have been set for the science of Artificial Intelligence, but according to Whitby the most mentioned idea about the goal of AI is provided by the Turing Test. This test is also called the

“I used to worry that computers would become so powerful and sophisticated as to take the place of the human minds,” expresses Lewis Thomas, the author of “The Corner of the Eye” [Thomas, 83]. A large part of Thomas’s fear of computers is due to the fact that “a large enough machine can do all sorts of intelligent things beyond our capacities” [Thomas, 83]. However, computers cannot replace us; he realizes computers cannot do some of the things that we can do, like being human. We like to be equivocal, imaginative, and self-conscious. Computers are the complete opposite of the traits that define us as human; or as Thomas states it, “they are not designed, as we are, for ambiguity” [Thomas, 83]. As witnessed by history, the present, and soon the future, it would be self-evident truth that computers will not take over us or be “us”.

What’s the first thing you think of when someone says, “Artificial Intelligence”? The Terminator? Perhaps the Matrix trilogy? Ever since the inception of the computer, science fiction has brought us scenes of super-intelligent computers who want to take over all of mankind. In reality, Artificial Intelligence is still in it’s infancy, and has done much more good for humans than bad. Over time, people’s perspective of AI has changed drastically. We have gone from thinking that AI will take over the world and obliterate mankind to thinking about all the benefits we can get from AI. The change in people’s perspective lately towards a more positive view of AI has boosted the production, sales, and advancement of home automation and AI, making

It is an easily accepted truth that technology has irrevocably shaped humanity and what we, as humans, view our limitations to be. Each day, however, the inherent boundaries of what our limitations are as humans are seemingly pushed further and further into the realm of technology, causing humanity and technology to overlap and inviting the idea of more advanced technology and advanced humanity to become something that is possible and plausible. The idea of the AI, artificial intelligence, is often cited as the natural next step in the evolution of humanity and Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, examines and identifies the humanity even within the seemingly ‘age of technology’ that is presented to us, and in the world which we live today.

Society today is greatly influenced by technology and the impact it has had within the past 20 years. One of the largest breakthroughs, though, is Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). The technology associated with A.I. has greatly developed in the past years, and is only making devices smarter. When someone mentions technology, or even the technological breakthroughs the world has gone through recently, many people go straight to smartphones and computers. A.I. is often overlooked, or put into a general category of "technology". Yet, artificial intelligence is something that should we not be so quick to dismiss, and should be something that gets people talking and even excited for what the future holds.

At the time, Watson was one of the most advanced forms of artificial intelligence. It possessed the ability to understand questions being asked in the natural English language. Just because it has the capability of using this function does not mean that the computer is perfect. There are still flaws in the machine. Though Watson won this game by a great deal of money, the machine still missed the final question.

The reason is because Watson needs to consume 80,000 watts of electricity per hour when answering a question, while the human brain takes 12.6 watts to operate. This demonstrates that the human brain requires less energy to process information. Watson also lacks emotional intelligence, which is an important aspect in interpersonal communication. This machine can only process information that is stored in its system, due to this it cannot come up with ideas or understand certain phrases.

The beginning of Watsons career is a little more familiar to people than they realize. IBM research developed Watson to compete on a well-known TV game show. Watson competed as a contestant on Jeopardy. It took a team of twenty researchers and three years to get Watson to the desired level of human expertise. Researchers capitalized of the knowledge they gained from Jeopardy and altered Watson to be even smarter. The researchers created all the necessary functions in Watson to alter research methods in such a way the human race has never been exposed to. Watson can be used in research of medical and business knowledge. Watson can even answer basic everyday questions like those we have in day-to-day conversations. Watson doesn’t just take in information in English but explores document in numerous languages. The increasingly important urge to create a computer system that could hold and comprehend the more broad area of relevance. Computers before Watson have had the ability to research documents using key words or by popularity. This poses a problem when the topic of discussion is not popular. Now the IBM system Watson can be used to make important decisions in many career fields with a limited time frame. Jeopardy requires contestants to compete quickly and accurately in a non-perfect environment. The complexity of a computer system playing Jeopardy lies within the ability to risk answering incorrectly or to not answer at all. This skill takes precision and

IBM developed a supercomputer named Watson. It was named after the first CEO of IBM, Thomas Watson. A supercomputer operates faster than any other computer. Watson can understand and process natural language (Wagle, 2013). First, Watson gets loaded with materials and then has automatic updates when new information is published. When a question is asked, Watson searches the database to find the possible answers by evaluating the possible meanings of the questions being asked. Watson then rates the quality of the information found and presents the answers with supporting evidence (http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/what-is-watson.html).

Presently, the current investment of the company is in artificial intelligence. In 2011, IBM presented Watson, a supercomputer, based on cognitive science, on an American television quiz show “Jeopardy”. The robot, competed with two of the best winners, the challenge of the competition was to guess the question for the answer informed by the presenter. Watson won the game. This was a more popular form encountered by IBM to promote the novel system they are waggling to be a milestone in the IT industry. Pisani (2014), consider this novel computing will likewise modify the way Business is normally conducted. The cognitive computers are not able to think by itself, however, it is capable to learn. This system has ability to absorb

“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do” (Skinner, 2017). Long before the birth of computers and the internet, technology reigned as one of mankind’s chief focal points. The greatest minds have always collaborated and competitively jostled for position on the world’s stage. Along the way, remarkable progress has been made. These visionaries have enabled the world to move and travel faster, have cured diseases, and expanded the vaults of available information beyond measure.

For centuries, philosophers have struggled to explain the nature of knowledge. Traditionally, we have considered our ability to think as the defining distinction between humanity and all other beings. However, the rise of the computer has created a great philosophical dilemma as we now struggle to reconcile the difference between the functioning of the human brain and the functioning of artificial intelligence. The purpose of my essay is to do exactly that – reconcile the difference by defending the argument that computers cannot think to the extent of biological human minds. I am in no way making a radical assumption that computers lack the ability to think at all, but there is a significant difference between concrete and abstract thinking which I will be referring to at a later time. I will make my argument against “strong artificial intelligence” by drawing on some ideas developed by philosopher John Searle. After arguing my premise for why computers cannot think, I will provide a criticism in relation to the flaw in my argument, which will be followed by my rebuttal to the criticism. This paper will close by defending my claims as to why computers cannot think, and why they will never be able to think to the extent of biological human minds.

These days, we have the capability of signaling somebody halfway across the world or finding out any piece of information within seconds. Our treasured pieces of technology are kept near us at all times and it is a comfortable feeling knowing that we have them around, even when there’s no interaction with them. We treat and care about our technology as if it were a friend. And despite the fact that technology often seems to have the ability to communicate back to us, they do not actually think like a human would. Although artificial intelligence is able to process information easily and quickly, it can not in fact properly interpret, therefore it will never measure up to a human’s capability of processing.

There are two types of innovation, incremental innovations which improving existing products or practices, but IBM’s research teams are encouraged to take on “grand challenges,” challenges that drive science. These grand challenges produce radical innovations which provide new and very different solutions; the development of Watson was no exception. Watson is a competence enhancing innovation for IBM and is built on existing knowledge from IBM’s research in AI. AI’s S-curve in technology improvement has been slow to improve mainly because it has been poorly understood. Language is one of the areas concerning AI that has been the slowest to improve. As humans we relate words, images, phrases, and ideas back into the way we think which is called natural language. Since the begging of the computer era people have expected computers to be able to understand and speak in natural language, however so far computers have failed to be able to do so. Natural language is very complex, something that computers have a hard time following. Computers are used to clear-cut commands in language where as human language is something different. In the development of Watson the