Sunday, January 30, 2005

Yeah, Intelligent.

Will humans ever be able to create a computerized form of intelligence to meet the level of human thinking? Will those same machines be able to reason at the same level that we do using similar cognitive processes? It sounds like something that only happens in science fiction, such as "I Robot", "2001:A Space Odyssey", or other similar stories in which robots and computers become basically "human", even to the point where they think themselves better than men. This is a scary thought since what separates us from all other forms of life is our ability to think. If something could out think us, we would become basically obsolete. We do not just have programmed responses and instincts to guide us, but also the ability to reason at a higher level that no other living thing has. Computers have the ablility to know facts, and even at times to figure out other facts from those facts, but they do not have the ability to really know things in the way that we do, things that can't be explained with words and are more than just head knowledge. They cannot believe things that seem to defy concrete facts and they cannot gain wisdom that surpasses mere understanding. Even though having robots around who could possibly out think most of us is a scary thought, I do not think that it is something that we will ever really have to worry about. The design behind how we think is something that seems pretty much impossible to match, even though, according to an article I read today, scientists are trying their best to come as close as they can to doing so.

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