Artificial Intelligence
| In 2006 at MIT, Ray Kurzweil and David Gelernter debated if machines could become conscious and were moderated by Rodney Brooks. |
I n 2006 at MIT, Ray Kurzweil and David Gelernter debated if machines could become conscious and were moderated by Rodney Brooks. (See video below).
As two of the sharpest minds in the computing arena spar gamely, neither scores a knockdown in one of the oldest debates around.
Viewers may wish to brush up on the work of computer pioneer Alan Turing and philosopher John Searle in preparation for this video.
Ray Kurzweil confidently states that artificial intelligence will, in the not distant future, "master human intelligence." He cites the "exponential power of growth in technology" that will enable both a minute, detailed understanding of the human brain, and the capacity for building a machine that can at least simulate original thought.
The "frontier" such a machine must cross is emotional intelligence-"being funny, expressing loving sentiment" And when this occurs, says Kurzweil, it's not entirely clear that the entity will have achieved consciousness, since we have no "consciousness detector" to determine if it is capable of subjective experiences.
Acknowledging that his position will prove unpopular, David Gelernter launches his attack: "We won't even be able to build super"intelligent zombies unless we approach the problem right." This means admitting that a continuum of cognitive styles exists among humans. As for building a conscious machine, he sees no possibility of one emerging from even the most sophisticated software. "Consciousness means the presence of mental states strictly private with no visible functions or consequences. A conscious entity can call on a thought or memory merely to feel happy, be inspired, soothed, feel anger" Software programs, by definition, can be separated out, peeled away and run in a logically identical way on any computing platform. How could such a program spontaneously give rise to "a new node of consciousness?"
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Gelernter replies that believing this "seems a completely arbitrary claim. Anything might be true, but I don't see what makes the claim plausible." Ultimately, he says, Kurzweil must explain objectively and scientifically what consciousness is -- "how it's created and got there." Kurzweil stakes his claim on our future capacity to model digitally the actions of billions of neurons and neurotransmitters, which in humans somehow give rise to consciousness. Gelernter believes such a machine might simulate mental states, but not actually pass muster as a conscious entity.
Ultimately, he questions the desirability of building such computers: "We might reach the state some day when we prefer the company of a robot from Walmart to our next-door neighbor or roommates."
About the Speakers: Gelernter is also contributing editor at the Weekly Standard and member of the National Council of the Arts. He's the author of books, technical articles, essays, art criticism, and fiction. "Breaking out of the box" (NY Times Magazine, '97) forecast and described the advent of less"ugly computers. He wrote the non-fiction book, Drawing Life: Surviving The Unabomber
and the novels, 1939 and Machine Beauty. He's written for Commentary, ArtNews, The Washington Post and many other periodicals.
Gelernter earned a B.A.from Yale University in 1976, and a Ph.D.from The State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1982. He joined the Yale faculty in 1982.
Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first omni-font optical character recognition (OCR), the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first CCD flat"bed scanner, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed, large vocabulary speech recognition.
Kurzweil received the $500,000 Lemelson- MIT Prize, the nation's largest award in invention and innovation, and was inducted in 2002 into the National Inventor Hall of Fame. He won the Winston Gordon medal from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for his pioneering work using technology for the benefit of blind people. He also received the 1999 National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest honor in technology, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony. He has received 12 honorary Doctorates and honors from three U.S. presidents. Kurzweil has written five books, including The Singularity Is Near
and hundreds of articles.
SOURCE MIT Video
About the Speakers: Gelernter is also contributing editor at the Weekly Standard and member of the National Council of the Arts. He's the author of books, technical articles, essays, art criticism, and fiction. "Breaking out of the box" (NY Times Magazine, '97) forecast and described the advent of less"ugly computers. He wrote the non-fiction book, Drawing Life: Surviving The Unabomber
and the novels, 1939 and Machine Beauty. He's written for Commentary, ArtNews, The Washington Post and many other periodicals.Gelernter earned a B.A.from Yale University in 1976, and a Ph.D.from The State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1982. He joined the Yale faculty in 1982.
Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first omni-font optical character recognition (OCR), the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first CCD flat"bed scanner, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed, large vocabulary speech recognition.
Kurzweil received the $500,000 Lemelson- MIT Prize, the nation's largest award in invention and innovation, and was inducted in 2002 into the National Inventor Hall of Fame. He won the Winston Gordon medal from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for his pioneering work using technology for the benefit of blind people. He also received the 1999 National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest honor in technology, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony. He has received 12 honorary Doctorates and honors from three U.S. presidents. Kurzweil has written five books, including The Singularity Is Near
and hundreds of articles.SOURCE MIT Video
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