First, (excuse my language) I fucking hate computers. Sure, they have brought us super far
in terms of technology, which is amazing, and I will certainly be the first to admit that I am
addicted to my phone, Apple Watch, laptop, and even the Xbox, but computers have truly
crushed socialization for the more recent generations.
Anyway, if I had a conversation with a computer and thought that I was talking to a human,
I do think the computer would be intelligent. Computers have infinite knowledge, which
would make them "smart". BUT computers have a difficult time communicating with any
sort of emotion and or vernacular so perhaps human beings are more intelligent regardless
of education.
In terms of memory function, both humans and computers have a database of information
to grab from so they are quite similar. The only difference I can think of is that humans
have the capability of forgetfulness, where a computer would, I suppose, need to break to
lose information.
I do not believe computers can eventually be smarter or as smart as humans, simply
because humans are the ones programming them. They only have the information we give.
Human intelligence and artificial intelligence could apply to the emotional intelligence
course theme because AI is incapable of having emotions, whereas humans have many
emotions.
Turing’s test is an interesting way to approach the idea of intelligence. This testing theory
allows the creator of the machine to “fool” the person it is talking to into thinking it is
human. In the examples listed in the video, it explained that the creator had to get creative
to cover the inadequacies of the programming such as poor grammar, emotional responses,
or specific topic redundancy. Intelligence requires a person to problem solve, adapt and
learn. A computer can solve a problem, and it can learn from the responses it receives but I
am not sure it has the true capability at this time to truly adapt itself completely. I do not
feel that a computer could be considered intelligent when it is only able to function at the
level given to it by the programmer. The programmer is really the intelligent one that has
found clever ways to trick people into thinking it is a human on the other end.
The memory model shows us that the brain encodes information into our brain, stores it and
then retrieves it later. A computer does the exact same process. In this way, it is similar
how the memory of a human and computer works. However, memory stored in a human
brain is not just data as it is stored in a computer. Memory in a human brain is stored
through experiences and includes sensory things such as touch, smell, sounds, and taste.
The smell of a flower can trigger a memory of a sunny day at the park with your loved one.
The computer is incapable of this type of memory as it does not have a way to store sensory
information. Additionally, a computer can only store the information for retrieval later for
as long as the computer is functionable. If something were to go wrong and the computer
crashed, all that data, or memory, would be lost forever. A person stores that memory for a
lifetime, even if they were to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they still get glimpses of
those memories from time to time when they become coherent or retrieve their long-term
memories. That data is still inside the human brain and able to be retrieved in a moment of
clarity, unlike the computer that would lose it all if it were to crash.
I do not feel that a computer could ever be as intelligent as a human. The human brain is
complex and has so many facets to it that it just cannot be duplicated. A computer is never
going to be able to feel emotion or have sensory reactions such as a burned finger or a loud
squeal that hurts your ear. These emotions and sensory reactions play a large role in our
ability to learn and adapt to experiences in our life. If a child were to touch a hot burner and
burn his hand, he processes that information and learns not to do that again. However, a
computer would be unable to process that type of reaction and understand that it should not
do that again unless the programmer informs it. A computer's intelligence can only go as
far as its programming which is why it will never be able to be as intelligent as a human
being.
Human intelligence relates to the programmatic course themes in many ways through our
ability to empathize, create moral values, ethical boundaries, socialization skills, work well
with co-workers and care for ourselves. However, because artificial intelligence has no
emotion it is unable to relate to the programmatic course themes. It can be programmed to
have morals and values as well as understand right and wrong but there are so many areas
of grey that it cannot process. It is not black and white how a situation should be handled in
the right way. There are many elements that come into play to make that decision and the
computer does not have the capability to adapt to those factors unless every possible
scenario is programmed into it. This is an impossible task and therefore makes the
programmatic course themes unrelatable to a computer.
I believe that the Turning Test is an interesting and fun challenge; I do not believe that
challenge is in any way success or failure on the part of the computer. It isn't the computer
that is displaying intelligence when it can convince a judge that it is a human; instead, it is
the creative mind of the computer's programmer that is displaying intelligence. The
computer can only behave in the manner it was programmed; it isn't able to think critically
or deviate from its programming.
Computers and humans store information that can later be recalled and examined; in
humans, they are considered memory; in computers, it is data. When computers recall
information, it is precisely the same every time; human memory can change over time.
Computers seem to be able to hold vast amounts of information in storage, but in truth, the
human brain has far greater storage compacity; I have a 3Tb hard drive in my computer, yet
it would probably not come close to being able to store all the images and memories from
even my first few years of childhood, where my brain does and is ready for many more
years.
Will computers ever be as intelligent as humans? Perhaps one day in the far future. Given
the crazy developments in just the past 20 years with computer technology, I would not be
surprised. Some of the computer AI programs that are creating AI art are very impressive;
the AI is creating images on its own by humans giving it only simple prompts. If
programmers figure out how to instil critical thinking into an AI program, I believe human-
like intelligence is not far off.
Computer intelligence does not fit in with the programmatic themes of this course as
human intelligence does. A computer does not require self-care; if not told to shut down, it
will work as told until it fails; it does not feel stress from this or get anxious as a human
would when worked to death. A computer would have an emotional intelligence score of
zero; since they do not have emotion, they cannot feel empathy, strive for social justice, or
act ethically unless they are programmed to do so.
