Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 19:43:41 -0500
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A thought experiment put forward by JohnSearle supposedly to show that ArtificialIntelligence is impossible.

Suppose that, many years from now, we have constructed a computer which behaves as if it understands Chinese. In other words, the computer takes Chinese symbols as input, consults a large look-up table (as all computers can be described as doing), and then produces other Chinese symbols as output. Suppose that this computer performs this task so convincingly that it easily passes the TuringTest. In other words, it convinces a human Chinese speaker that it is a Chinese speaker. All the questions the human asks are responded to appropriately, such that the Chinese speaker is convinced that he or she is talking to another Chinese speaker. The conclusion proponents of [strong AI] would like to draw is that the computer understands Chinese, just as the person does.

Now, Searle asks us to suppose that he is sitting inside the computer. In other words, he is in a small room in which he receives Chinese symbols, looks them up on look-up table, and returns the Chinese symbols that are indicated by the table. Searle notes, of course, that he doesn't understand a word of Chinese. Furthermore, his lack of understanding goes to show, he argues, that computers don't understand Chinese either, because they are in the same situation as he is. They are mindless manipulators of symbols, just as he is - and they don't understand what they're 'saying', just as he doesn't. [1]

[1] http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/MindDict/chineseroom.html

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