Could A Machine Be Conscious - 2962 Words

1 Could a machine be conscious? This question is often dismissed as simple by those that would say â€Å"yes† in response. The usual claim made by the pro camp is that man is a ‘biological machine’ and is conscious, ergo, a machine is conscious. If we, humans, are truly biological machines and we are at the same time conscious then I would agree that yes, categorically, a machine could be conscious. But is it really that simple? I contend that it is a more difficult problem but not that it is a complicated one, merely one of ambiguity which, once resolved, leads the contemplator to the same conclusion as I do that in fact, no, a machine could not be conscious. I propose that those who argue the yes case that a machine can be conscious are, in†¦show more content†¦They are all actions definable in their own right, which, I contend need not be sub categories of, or allocated to the definition of consciousness and, unlike the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness which we will come to shortly, they can be explained by science in a physical context and therefore be impersonated by machinery. They have physical qualities which are an important distinction in the 3 concept of Artificial Intelligence which claims the ability of machines to achieve consciousness, arising in theory out of intelligence. The most prominent example of the concept of a machine being intelligent in the manner of this so called consciousness is the Turing test (Turing, 1950) which, rather tellingly, was originally called the ‘Imitation Game’. The test was designed to see if a machine could fool a human into thinking it was itself another human, and although somewhat successful with ‘Eliza’ (Weizenbaum 1976), the premise was quickly, and I opine correctly, attacked by Searle (1980:417-57) in his ‘Chinese Room’ thought experiment, proving that a machine can simulate communication without understanding and is therefore not thinking in the way humans, or perhaps other living things do. Humans exhibit the ability to pass tests without understanding the material and, I contend, this is what a machine simulates, the function of memory, not intelligence. Even if it could fool aShow MoreRelatedAn Aristotelian Theory Of Consciousness1646 Words   |  7 Pagesrange from the ancient Pygmalion’s Galatea, the mythological golem, Victorian automatons, to our more recent fancies- computers, robots and other Turing machines. Perhaps the reason for this preoccupation with art ificial intelligence is actually a quest to better understand our own consciousness. At first sight, the question â€Å"Can a machine be conscious?† appears deceptively simple. However, the answer to this question is entirely dependent on how we define consciousness. We can embark by defining consciousnessRead MoreEmotion As Described And Theorized By Antonio Damasio1366 Words   |  6 PagesDamasio’s work to explain how Block and Chalmers distinguish between conscious awareness and conscious experience. Subsequently, I will resume my focus on Damasio’s work, by evaluating how the aforesaid experiment applies to Damasio’s brain damaged patient. Finally, I will conclude by reflecting on the overall picture of emotion and emotional experience, and use it to discuss the prospects and motivations of building emotional machines. Antonio Damasio considers the phenomena of emotion and feelingRead MoreComputing Machinery And Intelligence By Alan Turing1469 Words   |  6 Pagesquestion 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 replicationRead MoreAnalysis Of Alan Turing s Can Machines Think?1587 Words   |  7 PagesOn his essay â€Å"Can machines think?† Alan Turing, a great mathematician, and creator of the Turing Test presents us with the initial concept of what is now considered artificial intelligence. He states that eventually, as ti me progresses, machines will be able to think like humans. But, can a machine really think like a human? Can a machine even think on its own, or it is just based on human science and engineering to make computer systems perform tasks that require intelligence when done by humansRead MoreFunctionalism And Its Positive And Negative Arguments1582 Words   |  7 Pagesnegative critiques the identity theory describing what psychological states are not. Argument 1. If something has mental states then it is conscious 2. Humans, animals, and insects have mental sates 3. Therefore humans, animals, and insects are conscious 4. Either computers are conscious or not conscious 5. Computers have mental states 6. Therefore computers are conscious The first question we should ask from the argument above is if it is deductively valid. An argument is valid when it possesses theRead MoreIs It Possible For A Machine?847 Words   |  4 Pages4. Is it possible for a Machine to ‘’think’’? To be ‘’conscious’’? To ‘’understand’’? Explain with reference to your readings in the Philosophy of Mind module. The problem of thought associated with a machine raises ethical issues on a scientific perspective. So, how can we engage and act to develop the systems necessary for a peaceful life for human beings and especially in order not to be responsible for a collapse of humanism by wrapping in an autonomous and dense monitoring system throughoutRead MoreArtificial Intelligence And The Turing Test760 Words   |  4 Pagesartificial intelligence is and the Turing Test. Finally, I will discuss Turing and Searle’s views about the Turing Test and who has the stronger argument. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, artificial intelligence (AI) is, â€Å"The capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior† (Webster). What that means is that any electronic thing can perform human behavior. For example, Apple’s Siri, Siri is a component where you can ask your phone to look up the weather, text or call someone, etcRead MoreI Am The Inventor Of A Special New Robot1124 Words   |  5 Pageshave no minds – they are just machines and they will all be destroyed. I disagree with this statement because of two reasons: The function of machines, and the functions of minds. Argument 1 Machines are â€Å"an apparatus using or applying mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task†. In this aspect, the only difference in humans and machines in terms of function is the fact that the purpose for a machine may vary and the purpose forRead MoreEssay On Do We Have A Mind959 Words   |  4 Pagesother Sci-Fi film we see machines and robots that talk. Today’s machines and computers talk as well but will they talk like we do? And by that I mean not necessarily having a specific voice or language because, sure, they can repeat a sentence and make noises, but do they understand what they are saying and do they mean it? Take Siri for an example we rely on advice from her/him on our phones when we need assistance, however she doesn’t recognize our voice and makes a conscious decision to help us,Read MoreFunctionalism1324 Words   |  6 Pagescombination of the Behaviorist theory and the Identity theory. Behaviorism believes being in a mental state is the same as a physical state, which is an observable behavioral characteristic. For instance, if one claims they are unhappy, their physical state could include a frowning face or improper posture. On the other hand, the Identity Theory suggests when you experience something; there is a corresponding neurological state. The error with these two theories is Behaviorism fails to incorporate mental states

If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Dissertations Writing

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Howard Kang Free Essays

In dramatic form, be it monologue, dialogue or full theatrical scene, the author cannot step into the action to comment or interpret for us, as he can in a novel. We must draw our own conclusions from what we see and hear, and this makes for powerful effects, as a character reveals him- or herself to us by what he or she says or does. In the monologue, â€Å"My Last Duchess† Browning misleads us with great skill before we realize that we are listening to a criminal lunatic. We will write a custom essay sample on Howard Kang or any similar topic only for you Order Now The dramatic effect lies in the surprise we feel as the truth finally emerges. In Act IV, scene iii of Othello there is again an agonizing irony for the viewer, who knows more than Desdemona and is of course impotent to help her. Shakespeare works like a dentist without an anesthetic, and the pain of the audience comes from the unbearable innocence of the doomed Desdemona, who is surely something like the Duchess in Browning’s poem, helpless and bewildered in the face of the murderous insanity of her husband. The Duke in Browning’s â€Å"My Last Duchess† sounds so sane! But what makes him more eerie is that he is wonderfully gracious and articulate – â€Å"Will’t please you sit and look at her? † (5). As he tells his story he seems to weigh his words with great caution, as if he is quite free of the distorting power of anger or any other passion, and is keen to avoid any unfairness in his judgment: â€Å"She had / A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad† (21-2), â€Å"†¦ but thanked / Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked†¦ † (31-2). He never raises his voice, and speaks with a measured confidence that quite takes us in. At first we might be tempted to believe that his attitudes are reasonable: â€Å"Sir, ‘twas not / her husband’s presence only, called that spot / Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek† (13-15). His manner is restrained even as he hints at her infidelity. The painter flattered her about her appearance, as of course he would, being a Renaissance artist and totally dependent on patronage, but she was charmed by it – foolishly, the Duke suggests. â€Å"She liked whate’er / She looked on† (23-24). She was delighted by the beauty of the sunset, and the little tribute from the man who gave her the cherries, just as much as â€Å"My favor at her breast† (25). What he seems to be objecting to is her failure to be properly selective and aristocratic in her tastes. This is a rather extreme sort of snobbery, but perhaps not unprecedented; we may not find it attractive, but we may accept it as a feature of a proud man. In Browning’s My Last Duchess, the murder is implied. It is not described in explicit terms as in Othello. In the lines, â€Å"Paint/Must never hope to reproduce the faint /Half-flush that dies along her throat†, the speaker adores the ‘faint half-flush’ on his wife’s face that no paint could re-add and at the same time leaves a slight hint that she had been throttled to death. The intelligent monologue is enough to make the point overt and covert at the same time. All the time, Browning is luring us up the garden path. We begin to detect the problem. The Duke is immensely proud, a man of great heritage, while she is free of snobbery, charmed by the delights of the world and human kindness, and genuinely innocent. (Infidelity does not seem to be the Duke’s concern presently) Then we begin to see how pathologically proud and arrogant he really is. Even had you skill / In speech – (which I have not)† (35-36), (he lies, of course) to explain your objection to her behavior – which is clearly quite â€Å"normal† – it would involve â€Å"stooping, and I choose / Never to stoop† (42-3). So, rather than speak to her about his dissatisfaction, which would involve impossible condescension by him, he chose to solve the problem rather more radically: â€Å"This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped altogetherà ¢â‚¬  (45-6). It takes a moment for us to register what he did, so unbelievable is it and so evasively phrased. She thanked men,—good; but thanked /Somehow†¦. I know not how †¦. as if she ranked /My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name /With anybody’s gift,†- the last part of the speech clearly brings forth the envy rankling in the speaker’s heart! The unbending pride of the Duke comes out through the turns of phrases of this part of this long monologue, â€Å"†¦. and if she let/Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set/Her wits to yours ,forsooth and made excuse,/-E’en then would be some stooping and I choose/Never to stoop. The Duke can hardly ‘chose to stoop’to give in to the childish demeanors of his beautiful wife. Again, jealousy seems to be prevalent in the tone of these words: â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Oh, Sir, she smiled no doubt, /Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without /much the same smile? † Then having confessed to murder, or, rather, boasted of it, he continues his negotiations for his next Duch ess, celebrating, incidentally, one of his favorite art works, â€Å"Neptune†¦ Taming a sea-horse† (54-5), the very image of the brutal control that he has himself exerted over his innocent last Duchess. The willow scene from Othello works differently, of course, because it is a dialogue, though it is in the inner workings of Desdemona’s mind that the dramatic form is revealed here, just as much as is the case in Browning’s poem There is an almost intolerable pathos about this scene because Desdemona is so helpless. She has a good idea of what is going to happen – â€Å"If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me / In one of those same sheets† (24-5) and is impotent in the face of her fate. There seems to be no defence against the ruthless execution of Othello’s enraged will. She is in a sort of trance; a hypnosis of shock. All she can do is wait for the end, and the pathetic simplicity of her reflections here is the sign of a wounded spirit in retreat from reality. The tragic atmosphere is given additional poignancy by the occasional interruption of the everyday details of â€Å"undressing for bed†, the habitual continuing of everyday life because there is nothing else to do in the face of the worst – â€Å"Prithee unpin me† (21). She continues to pretend that this is just an ordinary night: â€Å"This Lodovico is a proper man† (35), not a comparison of Othello with her country forms, but a pathetic attempt at gossip. But her real thoughts emerge in the obsession with the willow song, which she cannot resist. It is the perfect mirror of her own fortune: â€Å"And she died singing it; that song tonight / Will not go from my mind† (30-1). Like a detail from a psychoanalyst’s casebook comes the unprompted line in the song that gives away the deepest thoughts of the wailing victim. Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve, — Nay, that’s not next. Hark! Who’s that knocks? –It is the wind. † (51-3) She corrects herself, but the absolute terror of realisation goes through her. Compared with Desdemona’s helplessness in the face of the corruption of Othello, Emilia’s jokes have an immensely remedial health. It is not a criticism of Desdemona, but it is a firm placing of trust in a human being by Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor can hardly be blamed for his rash decision of murdering Desdemona, who had been black-painted by his ‘honest Iago’ and it was Iago again who had sown the seeds of jealousy in his mind. Desdemona pleaded her innocence at last and asked to call for Cassius but Othello ran berserk maddened by sexual jealousy. Othello could hardly be blamed for his attitude, as he was a Moor and unfamiliar with the ways and manners of the Venetian culture. Naturally, he fell victim to Iago’s insinuations and committed the murder of his beautiful wife, Desdemona, who was actually, innocence epitomized. In Act IV, sc ii, Othello in reply to Desdemona’s pleading innocence disgustingly cried out, â€Å"O Desdemona, away! away! away! † Desdemona, being totally unaware of the handkerchief she had lost tried to reason with her husband, â€Å"Am I the motive of these tears my Lord? † It might have been possible that Othello could have turned deaf ears to Iago’s vitriolic comments or aspersions cast on Desdemona, but as he was new to their society and culture, it became easy for Iago to set him against his wife, who was a paragon of beauty. By way of rejoinder, when Othello speaks out, â€Å"Had it pleased Heaven/To try me with affliction; had they rained/All kinds of sores and shame on my bare head/Steeped me in poverty to the very lips/Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes/I should have found in some place of my soul/A drop of patience†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †and at last turns to the question of â€Å"complexion†, â€Å"Turn thy complexion thee.. †¦Ay there look as grim as hell! †, we find Othello a dejected, frustrated , lost soul feeling small for being a Black Moor who was alien to the Venetian culture! The complex of Culture and Identity assails him, no doubt! Othello decided to put an end to the life of his unfaithful wife at last and as he uttered the words in Act V, Sc ii, â€Å"Yet, I’ll not shed her blood; /Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow/And smooth as monumental alabaster/Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men†, Did he not sound the same as the Duke of My Last Duchess who had been driven mad by sexual jealousy? The murder could not be justified, but, Othello was quite a better lover and a more compassionate person than the Duke. He needed evidence to prove Desdemona’s betrayal; he had to fight immensely with his own conscience to come to the decision of murder. As a person, the Duke was cold-blooded, but Othello was emotional and irrational at he same time. If this had not been so, â€Å"†¦I will kill thee, / And love thee after. One more and this the last. /So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep/ But they are cruel tears; this sorrow’s heavenly; /IT STRIKES WHERE IT DOTH LOVE,† could he utter such words? The Duke of My Last Duchess was never so overpowered with emotions to give a slight indication of goodness that is if he had any. In Act V, sc i, Othello is making his mind up to vent his rage upon Desdemona. Here he again finds enough reason to slaughter Desdemona. On hearing the footsteps of Cassius, he blurt forth, â€Å"’Tis he;-O brave Iago, honest and just†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦minion your dear lies dead/and your unblest fate hies, strumpet I come† Till Lines 31 of Act V Sc ii, we find Othello raving and railing on about the murder of Desdemona. Othello seemed to give a chance to Desdemona to prove her innocence by saying, â€Å"If you bethink yourself of any crime/Unreconciled as yet heaven and grace /Solicit for it straight. † But he meant the murder and perpetrated it! In Act III, Sc iii, when Othello grows in a blind rage is provoked by â€Å"honest Iago’s† words, he finds every reason to kill Unfaithful Desdemona and utters, â€Å"Monstrous, monstrous!! † On hearing Cassio’s dream-mutterings on his secret affair with Desdemona, Othello got green with jealousy and anger. He saw betrayal from the cruelest possible angle. He found it terribly monstrous to be treated like that. When Emilia came talking of Desdemona’s profound love for her husband after she had been murdered, Othello lost his emotional balance and blurted, â€Å"O cursed slave! /Whip me ye devils/From the possession of this heavenly sight/Blow me about in the winds, roast me in sulphur/Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire†¦O Desdemona, Desdemona, DEAD!! †[Act V, Scii] Could we ever expect the Duke speaking in such touchy, sentimental terms after committing the murder? No, never!!! How to cite Howard Kang, Papers