So... Can They?

In his essay, “Can Machines Think? Maybe So, As Deep Blue’s Chess Prowess Suggests,” Robert Wright explores the idea that the more potent machines become in dominating tasks that used to be completed solely by human beings, the closer we come as a society to be regarded as “soulless machines.” Furthermore, Wright suggests that the more in-depth researchers investigate the competence of computers, the greater mystery consciousness becomes, which brings us to the question: “Can machines think?”

One method that was created to measure a computer’s ability to “think” was the Turing test. In this test, a person is asked to communicate via keyboard with others. For the purpose of this scenario, we will refer to this person as Bob. The catch, however, is that there might not necessarily be a human on the other side of the keyboard—it could either be a person or a computer. It is Bob’s task to successfully determine if he is conversing with a fellow homo sapien or a machine. If Bob is stumped, then we can safely assume that the computer was able to come up with adequate dialogue to pass as a human, or can we? Wright notes that in those rare cases when a computer was able to trick the human performing the interrogation, the discussion that resulted was less than stimulating (Wright 141). This goes to show that while it may be possible for a computer to “think,” it lacks a critical human characteristic: common sense.

Wright also brings up the ever burning question, “The lights are on, but is anyone home?” Early on in his essay, Wright relates the story of Garry Kasparov and his chess match against IBM computer, Deep Blue. Kasparov managed to slip by Deep Blue’s intellect to be crowned the victor; notice the words “slip by.” Kasparov lost the first game (Wright 142). Can you imagine the flood of emotions that he must have felt and the thoughts that must have crossed his mind? I can envision his sullen face looking troubled. He must have been thinking, “If only I had made a different move, then I would have won! Now, I’m one step closer to defeat. How could I have let this happen?” Deep Blue, on the other hand, could not have had the same experience as Kasparov, because it does not have the capability of feeling things. Once the first game had been won, there was no celebrating for Deep Blue. The “lights are on,” but Deep Blue (or any other computer for that matter) isn’t really home, because it isn’t conscious of what it’s like to feel emotions.

So, can machines think? In a sense, I believe they can. They can “think” enough to trick a person into believing that they are having a conversation with another human being, and they can also almost beat a human being at a game of chess. But although they can accomplish these feats, without the ability of truly knowing for themselves what they are doing, this triumph is an empty victory.