Artificial Intelligence. Essay Example

Artificial Intelligence: Cognitive Ability or Information Processing Computers have become an integral part of our everyday lives. We rely upon these machines to perform innumerable tasks that we often take for granted. Most people realize that computers are able to perform the multitude of functions as a consequence of the programming they receive. These programs give computers a set of instructions that governs their transition from one information processing state to another. Thus, computational machines are able to respond to a certain set of inputs with a certain range of outputs. In order to comprehend programs one needs only to describe these instructions in functional terms. In this regard, computer programs are extremely similar to functional accounts of the human mind, which contend that in order to understand the mind, one must simply examine the relationship between stimulus and behavior. Consequently, the question has naturally arisen as to whether a computer which consisted of a sufficiently sophisticated program would be capable of thought. This question has resulted in lively debate, with one camp of people including John R. Searle emphatically denying the plausibility of Artificial Intelligence. On the other side of the debate, individuals such as Paul and Patricia Churchland have declared that although a serial machine with a program might not be able to think, Artificial Intelligence might be feasible in parallel processing computers. In “ Is the Brain’s Mind a Computer Program, “ John R. Searle presents an interesting argument against strong artificial intelligence proponents. Believers of strong artificial intelligence contend that a computer that can pass the Turing test is displaying cognitive ability. The Turing test basically states that if a computer can function in such a way that an expert can not distinguish its performance from that of a human who has a certain cognitive ability, such as the ability to understand a language, then the