What does the Turing Test really mean?

The Turing Test is in the news this week, first with a wave of hype about a historical accomplishment, then with a secondary wave of skeptical scrutiny. The Turing Test was originally contemplated by Alan Turing in a 1950 paper.  Turing envisaged it as an alternative to trying to determine if a machine could think. … Continue reading What does the Turing Test really mean?

My philosophy, so far — part II | Scientia Salon

Massimo Pigliucci is doing an interesting series of posts on his philosophical positions. In the first part [19] of this ambitious (and inevitably, insufficient) essay I sought to write down and briefly defend a number of fundamental positions that characterize my “philosophy,” i.e., my take on important questions concerning philosophy, science and the nature of … Continue reading My philosophy, so far — part II | Scientia Salon

Reinstalling Eden : Nature : Nature Publishing Group

Eve, I call her. She awakes, wondering where she is and how she got there. She admires the beauty of the island. She cracks a coconut, drinks its juice and tastes its flesh. Her cognitive skills, her range of emotions, the richness of her sensory experiences, all rival my own. She thinks about where she … Continue reading Reinstalling Eden : Nature : Nature Publishing Group

BBC – Future – Technology – Is it OK to torture or murder a robot?

In the discussion on my post on computer consciousness from the other day, my friend amanimal just provided the following link: BBC - Future - Technology - Is it OK to torture or murder a robot?. I think this powerfully corroborates my thesis in that post, but it also illustrates that I might have been … Continue reading BBC – Future – Technology – Is it OK to torture or murder a robot?

More on computer consciousness

After discussion on my post the other day on consciousness being in the eye beholder, I realized that I probably should expand a bit on my hypothesis about what we would intuitively consider to be a conscious being. We, as minds, are aware.  We have awareness from our senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.  From the … Continue reading More on computer consciousness