a I was excited to dig into the true depths of what is defined as "intelligence"
these days. I feel comfortable saying many of us have been previously
introduced to the classifications of "book smart versus street smart" and may
understand the concept. As we speak of our individual emotional intelligence
and neurodiversity, it's not difficult to grasp that there is more to intelligence
than test scores or "book smarts." This, alone, should support the idea that
computers are not fully or independently intelligent by any means, regardless
of if they can hold a simple conversation. Summarized from both our textbook
and video resource The Turing Test: Can a Computer Pass for a Human?—
Alex Gendler, intelligence requires the ability to perform unique tasks such as
maintaining a personality, reading and reacting to body language, learning
from and adapting to new situations, and pondering questions that may have
no answer. However, computers do obtain a certain level of short-term
intelligence that allows it to perform tasks such as retaining information as
"memory", solving calculations, and can even perform systematic physical
functions such as carrying out medical procedures.
a In respect to memory, computers are able to mimic human intelligence. As
seen in the video, systems like Cleverbot store conversations and the
information discussed in efforts to collect relative data for future
conversations. Although a robotic and systematic approach, it has proven to
fool many people across the world. However, in contrast to human Emotional
Intelligence, Cleverbot could never pick up on a mood or tone, or an emotional
theme or pattern that may emerge, and adapt to the conversation accordingly.
The human's memory incorporates factors such as emotional attachment and
even senses that were activated and relevant to a certain memory. With no
emotional intelligence component, computers are unable to relate to humans in
this sense. This is one major example and reason of why human EI could not
be compared or mimicked by a computer that uses scripts, mathematical
solutions, and obvious apparent patterns to come to its conclusions.
References:
Myers, D., & DeWall, C. N. (2020). Psychology (6th ed.). Soomo Learning.
https://www.webtexts.com
TED-Ed. (n.d.). The Turing test: Can a computer pass for a human? - Alex
Gendler. TED. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-turing-test-can-a-computer-pass-for-a-human-
alex-gendler
