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 wouldn't 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 instill critical thinking into
an AI program, I believe human-like intelligence isn't far off.
Computer intelligence doesn't fit in with the programmatic themes of
this course as human intelligence does. A computer doesn't require
self-care; if not told to shut down, it will work as told until it fails; it
doesn't 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 can't feel
empathy, strive for social justice, or act ethically unless they are
programmed to do so.
