Artificial Intelligence is NOT the New Human

“I Process Therefore I Am” -Clive Davidson

Class Discussion #3

Marvin Minsky, the director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Massachusetts, has devoted his life’s work to creating an imitation of “human intelligence by programming computers to process information by manipulating symbols that [represent] knowledge and rules” (Davidson 116). It is his belief that in order to successfully create a machine that can “think” for itself, researchers should concentrate less on mimicking models of the human brain. His studies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed immensely, so much so that Minsky actually believes such machines programmed with AI will one day have the capacity to outshine the inner workings of the human mind by having a greater ability to be conscious of everything its ever done. “‘A machine could be vastly more conscious than a person because we didn’t evolve for that’” (Davidson 120).

However, this doesn’t mean that Minsky feels as though a machine’s aptitude for retaining information will make it smarter than the human population. On the contrary, he knows that “‘…it would be easy [for a machine] to be extremely conscious—but that doesn’t mean [the machine] would know what to do with it’”” (Davidson 120). What purpose does it serve then, if it is able to recall hundreds of records and information at the click of a mouse, but that data is not being put to good use? In addition, although a machine would have higher levels of consciousness that we as human beings cannot even begin to fathom, it would still lack other areas that are critical to intellect, such as an imagination. A machine would never be able to come up with ideas of its very own, a trait that is unique to humans.

I don’t agree with Mr. Minsky’s idea that machines can be more conscious than a genuine person. His definition of consciousness is “‘being aware of what is happening in the world and in one’s mind’” (Davidson 120). While a machine might be aware of what is going on in the world and what has been processed in its “mind,” it is only because someone, an actual being, placed that information within the machine. Perhaps at some point in the history of technological advances, machines containing AI will be able to “replace” humans. But let’s not forget that a human was the one that built the machine in the first place.