while the ball player does.
The ball player can research the topic of trajectory estimation and
transfer that subconscious ability to the conscious mind, possibly
improving his performance. The ball player, discovering the knowledge
himself or use the conscious knowledge acquired by someone else, would
learn that all projectiles travel in a parabolic fashion defined by
the equation ax2 + bx + c. That equation represents the conscious
equivalent of the formula used by the ball player's subconscious to
catch the ball. With this equation, the ball player can now discover
the trajectory of other projectiles such as a rocket or a bullet.
Self-awareness is the second half of the philosophic
plateau. Self-awareness is the ability of a being to classify itself,
and question its existence. As with the entire philosophic plateau,
currently only humans have this ability. The dog does not know it
is a dog, it does not know it is anything - all it knows is that it
is there. Humans, on the other hand question their existence with
questions such as: "do I exist?" For an artificial being
to be considered operating at this level, it would have to pose, and
try to answer questions about its existence.
As a person stands at a street corner watching cars
pass by, whether he realizes it or not, is calculating the cars speed
and estimating its path. This estimate is applied as a ratio between
the car's velocity, and the velocity at which the person's neck and
eyes move. This is how the person is able to rotate his head in order
to follow the car as it passes. When a lion is hunting its prey, it
estimates the velocity and course of its prey, both before its initial
attack and continually during its chase.
Measuring
There are many levels within each intelligence plateau.
Table 1 shows just a few general examples of both organic and inorganic
beings and the plateau level at which they belong. These examples
will change in the future as AI algorithms improve.
People should not be surprised that plants and
one-celled organisms are considered intelligent, based on our definition
of intelligence. While a tree is not as intelligent as an insect or
an animal, trees and other plants often grow in the direction of a
light source, and trees, which grow on a graded surface, figure out
how to grow perpendicular to a level surface. Plants interpret their
environment, and change their growing patterns based on this interpretation.
The Room
According to John Searle's Chinese Room Argument,
intelligent thought from a computer is unlikely, or even impossible.
Searle states that if a person uses a rulebook to decipher a Chinese
message, and then spits out a response recommended by the rulebook
in Chinese, the person is doing little more than shuffling around
symbols, which is what a computer does. While this theory is correct,
Searle is looking at the problem incorrectly.
First let us define what a rulebook is: A rulebook is a
compilation of predetermined relationships created by an intelligent
being. Searle decided to focus on the relationship between the person,
the input, and the rulebook, which requires very little intelligence
to discover. If the person does not understand Chinese, the person
only needs to understand the relationship between the Chinese of interest
and the |
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rulebook. In other words,
the person only understands how to convert the input to the desired
output by using the rulebook. If this is how a computer works however,
then there is not much possibility of it understanding Chinese, and
therefore displaying human intelligence.
There are other relationship that are taking place, the ones
encompassed in the rulebook. These relationships exist between the
words of a sentence. Take the sentence "What is the color of
John's dog?" To match the pattern in this sentence to its twin
in the rulebook, in the manner Searle proposed, brown is returned
as the answer but the rulebook did not understand the sentence to
answer the question. However, if we determine that the dog relates
to John by possession, and that color attribute relates to the dog,
then we understand the question, and can answer it without a rulebook,
assuming the answer is known.
If the person or computer creates the relationship between
the input and rulebook, there is no reason why other relationships
are not possible, such as those pertaining to the words of the sentence.
John Searle's argument refutes the ability of a computer to obtain
intelligence by ignoring the truly intelligent relationships that
are contained in the rulebook, and focusing in on only the rudimentary
relationship between the input and the rulebook.
Emotion
Although often thought of as a sign of intelligence, in many
ways, emotion is the opposite of intellect. When a being makes a decision,
it is influenced by intellect and emotion. Emotion, any internal mental
action that hinders a being from thinking logically, includes concepts
such as passion, lust, anxiety, fear and anger. By this definition,
love, hate, happiness, and sadness are not considered emotions; rather
they are considered states - the result of a data compilation. Intellect
is orderly, rational, reasonable and logical thought that hinders
emotional thought. |
