From Turing to Conscious Machines
In the period between Turing’s 1950 “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” and the current considerable public exposure to the term “artificial intelligence (AI)”, Turing’s question “Can a machine think?” has become a topic of daily debate in the media, the home, and, indeed, the pub. However, “Can...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Philosophies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/3/57 |
| _version_ | 1797225369188696064 |
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| author | Igor Aleksander |
| author_facet | Igor Aleksander |
| author_sort | Igor Aleksander |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the period between Turing’s 1950 “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” and the current considerable public exposure to the term “artificial intelligence (AI)”, Turing’s question “Can a machine think?” has become a topic of daily debate in the media, the home, and, indeed, the pub. However, “Can a machine think?” is sliding towards a more controversial issue: “Can a machine be conscious?” Of course, the two issues are linked. It is held here that consciousness is a pre-requisite to thought. In Turing’s imitation game, a <i>conscious</i> human player is replaced by a machine, which, in the first place, is assumed not to be conscious, and which may fool an interlocutor, as consciousness cannot be perceived from an individual’s speech or action. Here, the developing paradigm of machine consciousness is examined and combined with an extant analysis of living consciousness to argue that a conscious machine <i>is</i> feasible, and capable of thinking. The route to this utilizes learning in a “neural state machine”, which brings into play Turing’s view of neural “unorganized” machines. The conclusion is that a machine of the “unorganized” kind could have an artificial form of consciousness that resembles the natural form and that throws some light on its nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:44:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b65a7dbb7d744c90a314341d59a417b1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2409-9287 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:07:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Philosophies |
| spelling | doaj.art-b65a7dbb7d744c90a314341d59a417b12024-04-03T09:57:57ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872022-05-01735710.3390/philosophies7030057From Turing to Conscious MachinesIgor Aleksander0Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Imperial College, London SW7 2BT, UKIn the period between Turing’s 1950 “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” and the current considerable public exposure to the term “artificial intelligence (AI)”, Turing’s question “Can a machine think?” has become a topic of daily debate in the media, the home, and, indeed, the pub. However, “Can a machine think?” is sliding towards a more controversial issue: “Can a machine be conscious?” Of course, the two issues are linked. It is held here that consciousness is a pre-requisite to thought. In Turing’s imitation game, a <i>conscious</i> human player is replaced by a machine, which, in the first place, is assumed not to be conscious, and which may fool an interlocutor, as consciousness cannot be perceived from an individual’s speech or action. Here, the developing paradigm of machine consciousness is examined and combined with an extant analysis of living consciousness to argue that a conscious machine <i>is</i> feasible, and capable of thinking. The route to this utilizes learning in a “neural state machine”, which brings into play Turing’s view of neural “unorganized” machines. The conclusion is that a machine of the “unorganized” kind could have an artificial form of consciousness that resembles the natural form and that throws some light on its nature.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/3/57living consciousnessmachine consciousnessthought |
| spellingShingle | Igor Aleksander From Turing to Conscious Machines Philosophies living consciousness machine consciousness thought |
| title | From Turing to Conscious Machines |
| title_full | From Turing to Conscious Machines |
| title_fullStr | From Turing to Conscious Machines |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Turing to Conscious Machines |
| title_short | From Turing to Conscious Machines |
| title_sort | from turing to conscious machines |
| topic | living consciousness machine consciousness thought |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/3/57 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT igoraleksander fromturingtoconsciousmachines |