TURING, SEARLE AND SYMBOL MANIPULATION

(For lecture Thursday, October 24.)

[pdf version]

READINGS ON THE TURING TEST AND SEARLE’S CHINESE ROOM

Read the following article by Alan Turing in which he proposes a test for machine intelligence.

Turing, A. M. (1981). Computing machines and intelligence. In D. R. Hofstader & D. C. Dennett, (Eds.), The mind's I (pp. 53-68). New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc. (Excerpted from Computing machinery and intelligence, Mind, 1950, 59)

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What is the Turing Test (the imitation game)?

2. How does it work?

3. What does it test for?

4. In your opinion, do you think the Turing Test is a good measure of machine intelligence? Why or why not?

Then read the following article (written in response to Turing’s test) by Berkeley philosopher John Searle in which he argues against the validity of the Turing test.

Searle, J. (1981). Minds, brains and programs. In D. R. Hofstader & D. C. Dennett, (Eds.), The mind's I (pp. 353-373). New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc. (Reprinted from The Behavioral and Brain Sciences [Vol. 3]. Cambridge University Press, 1980)

As you read, keep in mind the following questions:

1. What is the Chinese Room?

2. What is Searle's beef with the Turing Test?

3. Why does Searle think his Chinese Room invalidates the Turing Test?

4. What does this have to do with symbol manipulation?

5. Who are you convinced by, Turing or Searle? Why?

WRITE a question you have about either/both of these articles and a 1-2 paragraph discussion of your question. EMAIL your question and discussion to me (batya@u.washington.edu) no later than NOON on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23. Please put your response in the body of your email message (so I won’t have to open up individual Word documents) and label the subject heading: INFO 300 Turing Searle Question. We’ll use your questions to structure our discussion.