The Human Brain And The Functioning Of Artificial Intelligence

Neil Postman, a firm protester against technology, begins his argument in The Judgement of Thamus with a parable about a king rejecting an inventor who incorporates writing into their society; the king, Thamus, is steadfast in his belief that writing’s future burdens will outweigh its immediate success. Postman argues that technological discoveries change the way we think, manipulating our culture and our understanding of the world. He states that the primary difference between computers and humans is the ability to self-learn - but what happens when the human race conquers that barrier with technology? Artificial Intelligence is often referred to as the "field I would most like to be in" by researchers in other sciences (semanticscholar.org). It is not only prominent in subfields like reasoning and logic, but also in precise tasks like playing chess, proving theorems, and diagnosing diseases. The short-term benefits of Artificial Intelligence depend on who controls it, while the long-term benefits of Artificial Intelligence depend on if we can control it at all. When considering synthetic intelligence, I believe our outlook must be cautiously positive. As Postman suggests, the development of technology has significant advantages and disadvantages. Futurists believe AI will redefine the human world by enabling software’s ability to self-program and by minimizing the time it takes to solve a challenge. However, the safety issues and current jobs that will be replaced by

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”.

“…it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence” (224). With this thought, Nicholas Carr ends his 2010 book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Here, he attempts to convince readers that ultimately, technology has the power to be our cognitive undoing as humans. Carr’s arguments towards this idea and whether or not they are convincing and thorough will be explored. While some may consider the information he provides to be unconnected, I find each of the topics he covers to be powerful in his argument that technology can be a dangerous tool in humanity’s progress towards a higher intelligence.

The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do; B.F. Skinner. This quote rings true in today's world. Ray Bradbury predicted this particular problem with technology in his fiction novel The Pedestrian. Published in 1951, The Pedestrian predicts some of the problems society will have with technology in the future. Even in 1951 Ray Bradbury could see that technology is very addicting and hard on originality. For example, in The Pedestrian the whole city is inside watching their “viewing boxes. The main character Leonard is outside and gets arrested for taking a walk at night. In Leonard's world, him not wanting to be pacified by technology is “regressive”, and “regressive” behavior is scary.

The purpose of this paper is to bring to light a fresh new perspective of Artificial Intelligence or simply (AI). There have been numerous endeavours to make artificial intelligence which is inclusive of frontiers such as neural network, evolution theory, and so forth, not forgetting that a number of current issues have found solutions in the application of these concepts, the case still remains that each theory only covers a certain isolated aspect of human intelligence. To date, he gap that stands between a human being and an artificial intelligence agent still remains unabridged. In this paper an extrapolated version of artificial intelligence shall be discussed which will be augmented by emotions and the plausibility of inheriting a neural architecture from one generation to the next in a bid to make artificial intelligence to compare to the natural behaviour and intelligence of human

Throughout its history, artificial intelligence has always been a topic with much controversy. Should human intelligence be mimicked? If so, are there ethical bounds on what computers should be programmed to do? These are a couple of question that surround the artificial intelligence controversy. This paper will discuss the pros and cons of artificial intelligence so that you will be able to make an educated decision on the issue.

The second claim of strong AI, which Searle objects to, is the claim that the system explains human understanding. Searle asserts that since the system is functioning, in this case passing the Turing Test, (Brigeman, 1980) there

* Developments in computer science would lead to parallels being drawn between human thought and the computational functionality of computers, opening entirely new areas of psychological thought. Allen Newell and Herbert Simon spent years developing the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) and later worked with cognitive psychologists regarding the implications of AI. The effective result was more of a framework conceptualization of mental functions with

In his paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” Alan Turing sets out to answer the question of whether machines can think in the same humans can by conceptualizing the question in concrete terms. In simple terms, Turing redefines the question by posing whether a machine can replicate the cognition of a human being. Yet, some may object to the notion that Turing’s new question effectively captures the nature of machines’ capacity for thought or consciousness, such as John Searle. In his Chinese room thought experiment, Searle outlines a scenario that implies machines’ apparent replication of human cognition does not yield conscious understanding. While Searle’s Chinese thought experiment demonstrates how a Turing test is not sufficient to establish that a machine can possess consciousness or thought, this argument does not prove that machines are absolutely incapable of consciousness or thought. Rather, given the ongoing uncertainty of the debate regarding the intelligence of machines, there can be no means to confirm or disconfirm the conscious experience of machines as well as the consciousness of humans by extension of that principle.

Rene Descartes’ “Discourse on the Method” focuses on distinguishing the human rationale, apart from animals and robots. Wherein, he does so by explaining how neither animals, nor machines possess the same mental faculties as humans. For Descartes distinguishes the human rationale apart from non-humans, even though he does agree the two closely resemble each other because of their sense organs, and physical functions (Descartes, pp22). Nevertheless, it is because the mechanical lacks a necessary aspect of the mind, which consequently separates them from humans. For in Descartes “Discourse on the Method,” he argues that the noteworthy difference between humans, and the mechanical is that machines are only responding to the world through of their sense organs. Whereas humans possess the significant faculties of reasoning, which allows them to understand external inputs and information obtained from the surrounding environment. This significantly creates a dividing ‘line’, which separates humans from non-humans. For in this paper, I will firstly distinguish the differences between the human and mechanical’s mentality in regards to Descartes “Discourse on the Method”. Secondly, I will theorize a modern AI that could possess the concept of an intellectual mind, and then hypothesize a powerful AI that lacks the ability to understand its intelligence. Lastly, in disagreeing in why there are no such machines that is equivalent to the human mind. For humans don’t possess all the

Substantial studying has been made on the subject and Turing’s overly optimistic point of view, yet, we experience difficulty when trying to combine idea of advancement in technology and what makes us humans: the capability of thinking. Conventionally, we have firmly grasp to the idea that the act of thinking is the official stamp of authenticity which differentiate humans from the rest of beings, and so while trying to decide if a computer can think or not, we are closely scrutinizing the foundation of our nature as beings to its core. But before we dive into the subject matter of why I disagree with Turing, we must inquire about what exactly is thinking. Some have tried to define thinking as having conscious thoughts; but thinking and consciousness are not terminologies that are mutually exchangeable. While thinking is a state of consciousness, consciousness is not thinking. Even as we process information necessary for reasoning, much of our brain activity and processing takes

SYNAP T IC P LAS T ICI TY - L EARNING WI THIN A NEURAL NE TWORK The human brain is a very powerful computational device because it is able to learn from previous experiences, and remember these experiences. It is able to do this because, as and when it is stimulated by new inputs, synaptic connections within the brain change (shift, appear, disappear) and efficacies (weights) of existing synapses also change to effectively remember these inputs and experiences. Learning refers to the ability of neural networks to adapt to new inputs and experiences, changing over time, to respond better to new inputs.

Artificial Intelligence is a topic within the public media that has existed for decades, but is now a concern due to the reality of human advancement and innovation in the field of science and technology. Many people believe that computers will become self-aware or sentient and view humanity as a disposable resource and gain supremacy. Reasoning that research on the technology should halt and not become more advance. Whereas others believe they will help catapult research and the economy forward, supporting the operations and innovations the technology offers. The complicated and divided solutions to the debate aren’t obvious, but there are more benefits to improving artificial intelligence than there is stopping it. Therefore, the negative effects people believe will occur can be resolved.

In the future, we may be able to build a computer that is comparable to the human brain, but not until we truly understand one thing. Lewis Thomas talks about this in his essay, "Computers." He says, "It is in our collective behavior that we are most mysterious. We won't be able to construct machines like ourselves until we've understood this, and we're not even close" (Thomas 473). Thomas wrote this essay in 1974, and although we have made many technological advances