Tuesday, September 17, 2024

1133: Can an AI computer have a mind?....

 Today I want to repeat a previous lecture because it touched on the most important aspect of Artificial Intelligence. This name is suggestive, but in my opinion misplaced. 

  

A better name for the computer-generated output would be Artificial data processing. The "output" of a human being we call intelligent. The output of a machine is should be called "processed data" and not the product of intelligence.


The idea that a computer functions like a brain or vice versa that the brain functions like a computer is already an old metaphor and when we use the term Artificial Intelligence, can a computer be intelligent?

   

The history of philosophy shows us two routes: Cartesian dualism and what we learned in the Materialism project: physicalism, which you can call monism, the mind can be reduced to the working of the physical brain.

    

This easily leads to the thought, that matter, material things can generate a mind. So, if our physical brain can produce a mind, wouldn't that be possible for a computer too?

    

But here we run into a few obstacles. When we talk we understand what we say. When I say "I am a heterosexual person" there goes much more on in my mind than just the creation of the arrangement of five words.

   

The statement may be related to all kinds of ideas and emotions. When a chat program on a computer says the same, does it have the same experience and feeling for all kinds of connotations?

   

The answer is simple: NO. Artificial Intelligence only needs to arrange a series words, derived from its input. It does not have any understanding of what it is saying.

   

There is a difference between syntax and semantics. AI follows the proper syntactical rules to compose texts related to the input, for instance, a question about something.

    

Based on a massive amount of data and statistical procedures it can answer the question without understanding whatever it is talking about. It has no idea of the semantics, that is, understanding the language.

   

In philosophical terms, this is about intentionality. Intentionality is the property of mental states to form thoughts or imagine something. 

   

When you hear "restaurant", an image or thought arises in your mind. You think of a room with tables and chairs, plates of food, whether Italian or Greek. An image of a hamburger may also arise in your head. 

   

Thoughts and words are about something. Computers lack this characteristic. They only can convert data into signs, and sentences without any intention or thought behind it. 

  

In that respect, a computer is comparable to a thermometer. A thermometer can indicate the temperature perfectly, but that's about it.

   

A thermometer does not form a thought about the temperature it indicates. When it is twelve degrees he does not think "This will be a chilly day...". 

     

The point here is that we need to get rid of the myth that the relationship between computer programs and hardware is similar to the relationship between mind and brain. 

   

According to physicalism, which we discussed earlier, the mind with all ideas, thoughts, and emotions is a product of the brain. However, a computer program does not originate from the hardware. 

  

The formal symbols of a computer program are meaningless and were developed independently of the hardware. They don't come from it.

   

It leaves us to ask ChatGPT, if it has a mind :-) I got an honest answer.

  

ANSWER - As a machine learning model, ChatPT does not have a brain or a mind in the same way that a human does. It does not have the ability to think, perceive, or feel in the same way that a human does. 

    

Instead, ChatGPT is a program that has been trained to generate text based on a given input. It can produce responses that may seem like they are coming from a person, but it does not have the same mental abilities as a human. -END -

    

So, we have to keep in mind all the time how limited Artificial Intelligence is. It looks like it behaves like a human, but will never be able to answer the question: What do you feel about what you are saying?

   

Thank you for your attention again....


Main Sources:

MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995
 http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.htm
Guido van der Knaap: Van Arititles to Algoritme (2023(


TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------  


  1 - 100 Philosophers                                              9 May 2009  Start of

  2 - 25+ Women Philosophers                              10 May 2009  this blog

  3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking                               10 May 2009

  4 - Modern Theories of Ethics                              29 Oct  2009

  5 - The Ideal State                                               24 Febr 2010   /   234

  6 - The Mystery of the Brain                                  3 Sept 2010   /   266

  7 - The Utopia of the Free Market                       16 Febr 2012    /   383

  8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism                      5 Sept 2012   /   413

  9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist                             6 Nov  2012   /   426                        

10  - Non-Western Philosophy                               29 May 2013    /   477

11  -  Why Science is Right                                      2 Sept 2014   /   534      

12  - A Philosopher looks at Atheism                        1 Jan  2015   /   557

13  - EVIL, a philosophical investigation                 17 Apr  2015   /   580                

14  - Existentialism and Free Will                             2 Sept 2015   /   586         

15 - Spinoza                                                             2 Sept 2016   /   615

16 - The Meaning of Life                                        13 Febr 2017   /   637

17 - In Search of  my Self                                        6 Sept 2017   /   670

18 - The 20th Century Revisited                              3 Apr  2018    /   706

19 - The Pessimist                                                  11 Jan 2020    /   819

20 - The Optimist                                                     9 Febr 2020   /   824

21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream                8 Oct  2020   /   872

22 - A World Full of Patterns                                    1 Apr 2021    /   912

23 - The Concept of Freedom                                  8 Jan 2022    /   965

24 - Materialism                                                      7 Sept 2022   /  1011

25 - Historical Materialism                                       5 Oct 2023    /  1088

26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist                             9 Jan 2024    /  1102

27 - Artificial Intelligence                                          9 Feb 2024    /  1108 


The Discussion

    

[13:27] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman

[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Something to ponder for a few months!

[13:27] CONNIE Eichel: thanks professor :)

[13:27] herman Bergson: To be modest...this was the best lecture of the semester :-)

[13:28] bergfrau Apfelbaum: smart artificial intelligence :-)

[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed true. Also, a computer is digital, it deals with 1 and 0 only and can thus impossibly perceive our analog world

[13:28] herman Bergson: No Bergie...real intelligence here :-)))))

[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): we are intelligent, a computer is not

[13:28] bergfrau Apfelbaum: yes i know :-)

[13:29] herman Bergson: No...indeed Beertje...

[13:29] herman Bergson: It lacks all qualities of the human mind...

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a computer is myst billions of tiny switches, it feels nothing more than say a lamp switch cause that's basically all it is, billions of tiny lamp switches

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): just

[13:29] herman Bergson: the mind is not a computer....

[13:30] herman Bergson: There is a point....

[13:30] herman Bergson: A computer NEVER can have feelings....

[13:30] herman Bergson: reason...

[13:30] herman Bergson: our emotions are driven by hormones...

[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the fact a computer works at all is because of math cause EVERYTHING can be described by math

[13:30] herman Bergson: andrenaline , oxitocinem, endorfines

[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): even the name computer = calculator

[13:31] bergfrau Apfelbaum: it would scare me if my computer showed emotions

[13:31] herman Bergson: lol yes Bejiita

[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): whatever a computer deals with it does so using raw mathematics

[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): images sound logic

[13:31] herman Bergson: It never will Bergie...no worries]

[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and it lacks these chemical signals that give us feelings

[13:32] herman Bergson: yes Bejiita....

[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its just binary math

[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but its good enough

[13:32] herman Bergson: So..our brain is not a computer....

[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and i can stay in control of the machine

[13:32] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Bergie..or your computer says...not now..I have a headache:)))

[13:32] bergfrau Apfelbaum: Beertje,,,, when he does that. I'll get the hoe

[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well there were human computers but that was also math related

[13:33] bergfrau Apfelbaum: lol

[13:33] herman Bergson: What we have done is copy some capacities of the brain...in fact actually only its use of logic

[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we dont do math all the time however

[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed

[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true Herman

[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but i can tell a computer what to do quite easy with the mysiad of different programming languages out there

[13:34] herman Bergson: and in AI they have addwed all kijnds od statistical math to it,  which is in fact also pure logic

[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that are human readable more or less

[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes

[13:35] herman Bergson: So...we are still zillions of years away from the Terminator Era :-)

[13:36] Max Chatnoir: That's comforting!

[13:36] herman Bergson: Max, a chat bot can fool you....but never feel you

[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah

[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes

[13:37] Max Chatnoir: ;-)

[13:37] herman Bergson: Well....

[13:37] Max Chatnoir: So a chat bot might come up with something unexpected, because of its very large database.

[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): not worrying about terminators more then LHC creating black holes swallowing earth (after all that machine has also been running now since 2010)

[13:38] Max Chatnoir: But that doesn't make it intelligent.

[13:38] herman Bergson: yes..

[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): so I think we are safe in that regard

[13:39] Max Chatnoir: So only humans can be illogical?

[13:39] herman Bergson: For this summer, we are safe MAx :-)

[13:39] Max Chatnoir: Or living beings, at least....

[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a computer is fast and exact/good at repetition ect but its is not intelligent

[13:39] herman Bergson: lol...ask bekjiita who is fighting  his bugs in his programming all the time

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): it is MY job to fix the bugs, the computer cant do it for me, well it can help me, there are tools called debuggers

[13:40] herman Bergson: To be illogical is quite easy Max :-)

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but its my decision to tell it what to do and do it correct

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): one missed symbol in the code and the compier screams at me

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no typos allowed in programming, but we in contrast will grasp a typo no prob

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and still figuee out the meaning

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like in THAT case i did just now3

[13:41] Max Chatnoir: Nice point.

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and also there

[13:41] herman Bergson: BEjiita....a VEnus satelie mission went wrong because they typed a : instead of a ;

[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa

[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): there is the difference between us and computers

[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we are typo safe

[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): computers are not

[13:42] herman Bergson: yes...we make mistakes...computers don't :-)

[13:42] CONNIE Eichel: I dont want to interrupt, but I got to go now... nice to be here, hugs everyone :)

[13:42] herman Bergson: They follow the rules

[13:43] Max Chatnoir: See you, Connie.

[13:43] herman Bergson: Be well CONNIE :-)

[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): on the other hand indeec computers once programmed correct will carry out its instructions over and over with no misstakes

[13:43] herman Bergson: Nice you were here

[13:43] CONNIE Eichel: :)

[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like for example my 3D printer or a CNC machine/robot in general can churn out part after part after part and they are exact same every time

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as long i run the same g code again and again

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for how many parts i want

[13:44] herman Bergson: you are making LEGO, Bejiita?

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and they all come out exactly the same unless some part of the machine gets worn or so

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i bet i can make LEGO but 3d printing ego will take forever, injection molding is better here

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and in that case it is the mold that determine the shape so no logic needed at all more then controlling the injection of right amount of plastic each time

[13:45] herman Bergson: OK, In all modesty, I think I concluded this semester with my best lecture of the season ... :-)))

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well this have been really good

[13:46] herman Bergson: YOU ARE GOING TO ENJOY A LONG LONG VACATION :-)

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a good theme

[13:46] Max Chatnoir: An excellent finish, Herman!

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)

[13:46] herman Bergson: The project itself is not yet finished....but...

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa ok

[13:47] Max Chatnoir: Take some time to regenerate and then come back and astonish us!

[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its a really good theme so

[13:47] herman Bergson: I'll be back in September.... deo volente

[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:47] herman Bergson: `Yes Max...

[13:47] bergfrau Apfelbaum: ty Herman and class! i wish everyone a good summer

[13:47] herman Bergson: I will

[13:47] Max Chatnoir: Check in now and then, please.  :-)

[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): will you be online to golf and play cards now and then?

[13:47] herman Bergson: Oh I will no worries...

[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)

[13:48] herman Bergson: Every Wednesday we play golf...to begin with

[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ok

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): tomorrow i promised to check out a show however

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a first attempt at something

[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): take your time and rest Herman

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): can be interesting

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but im onto play some cards now

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:48] herman Bergson: Yes Beertje...that is my feeling too

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes Herman

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed

[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): u have done great

[13:49] herman Bergson: thank you Bejiita

[13:49] bergfrau Apfelbaum: golf continues on Wednesday. who wants :-)

[13:49] herman Bergson: yes yes...

[13:49] Max Chatnoir: You've been very stalwart, Herman.

[13:50] herman Bergson: stalwart ?? I don't know that word, Max

[13:50] herman Bergson: What does it mean?

[13:50] Max Chatnoir: strong and courageous

[13:50] herman Bergson: Thank you XXX

[13:50] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): and that takes energy

[13:51] herman Bergson: That is the point Beertje....

[13:51] herman Bergson: That is why I stop now.... I am really worn out....

[13:51] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): wijs besluit

[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aw

[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm

[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): good to have a break

[13:51] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): very important to be back on trail again

[13:52] herman Bergson: yes

[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it tkaes time...

[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): takes

[13:52] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaah

[13:52] herman Bergson: No worries, I will Beertje..

[13:53] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): maybe the sun will shine a bit,, after all the rain

[13:53] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:53] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes

[13:53] herman Bergson: To be honest....I love rain :-)

[13:53] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): me too

[13:53] herman Bergson: Even more than sunshine :-))

[13:53] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it rains cats and dogs now

[13:53] bergfrau Apfelbaum: it is been raining here too since yesterday

[13:54] herman Bergson: Yes here to....LOVE IT!

[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): oki

 


   


   


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