| For this
task you should deeply logically analyze this
topic as described in the following prompt, and, when
you have done that, only then write up a proper
(minumum three page) Thesis
Paper fully describing, clarifying, supporting,
and defending what you presently think is the most
logically supportable conclusion we can come to about
this topic.(Three pages, double spaced, odf, .doc.
.docx, .pdf, submit through Turnitin.com.) Remember that a thesis paper starts with your thesis, and does not have an introduction or a conclusion. |
Do not SEARCH the internet for articles on
this topic. Just read this prompt, and do your own
thinking about this issue.
Imagine that it is the year 3037. All of Earth's environmental and social problems have been solved, space travel is commonplace, disease is a thing of the past, everyone lives very comfortably, and governments have so much extra cash that they can afford to fund incredibly expensive scientific projects. Imagine that you are visiting one such project, Project Turing, which is housed in a massive space station hanging in one of Earth's Lagrange points. Project Turing is an inconceivably large structured array of very powerful supercomputers. For comparison, imagine the most powerful supercomputer of the 21st century, and imagine a supercomputer about a million times more powerful than that. Then imagine several thousand billion of these super-supercomputers hooked together in a structured array many, many times larger than the 21st century internet. Project Turing is something like that, only larger, more powerful, and much, much more structured. (Computers can be made much, much smaller than they were in the 21st century, but even so, project Turing is clearly visible as a disk from the surface of the Earth.)
After a brief tour of the enormous space station, you are taken
into the control room for a brief speech from the project
director. She tells you that the computer array (named "Turing")
is structured in exactly the same way as a fully
developed adult normally functioning conscious human
brain, with at least the level of complexity
found in the brain of the average adult human brain. The array
contains around 86 billion artificial neurones, (the same number
as the brain) each one connected by artificial synapses to
several thousand specific other neurones, and by artificial
hormones to the appropriate variety of artificial glands. Each
artificial neurone behaves in exactly the same way as some human
neurone, and each one functions in a way appropriate for
its position in the array. Every structure in the adult human
brain has a precise analog in the Project Turing brain, and
sensory centers that make qualia, such as the auditory and
visual centers, are hooked up in just the right way to take
advantage of microphones and cameras in the control room. (The
structure of this arrangement of neurones is based on a complete
scan of the brain of the 30-year-old Alan Turing, obtained
through a limited form of transtemporal technology. It thus has
the typical structure of a brain that has developed in the same
way as all typical adult human brains. <added 10/21/23>)
<Added 2/20/26> Since all the
artificial neurone, artificial hormones, and artificial
synapses are created by computers, they can be
changed, created, and deleted by the computer as time goes on.
In Project Turing, the artificial brain is made so that it
will grow and change in exactly the same as a
normally functioning human brain. Thus Turing learns, grows
and changes in exactly the same way as human brains.
Turing has artificial senses
equivalent (or better) to the entire suite of all human
senses, including cameras for "eyes", microphones for "ears",
heat sensors, moisture sensors, extensive mechanical arms with
touch-sensitive "hands", and even a remotely operated "robot"
by which it could explore other parts of the station.Thus,
once Turing is turned on it will begin having experiences and
making memories through its interactions with its environment.
<added 3/18/25>)
When it is turned on, the artificial brain, with its artificial senses, will function in exactly the same way as a typical adult human brain. There will be nothing a human brain has that it doesn't have, and there will be nothing a adult human brain does that it doesn't do. (Thus the computer is not simulating consciousness, it will be emulating all the significant adult human brain functions.)
The basic question here is whether computers can have minds.
"Consciousness," is the faculty of being aware of yourself, your
feelings, your thoughts, and your surroundings. Most of your
mental processes occur without you being conscious of them,
which means that your mind is different from, and much bigger
than your consciousness.
Most people seem to think that consciousness is the whole mind.
This is a serious mistake. Your consciousness does not do any of
your thinking. "Conscious thought" is just you being aware of
what you are thinking. You also do a lot of thinking that you
are not aware of, and this "unconscious" thought is just as much
a part of your mind as the conscious stuff.
The proper way to understand the term "conscious mind" is as
referring to a set of mental processes that include can and do
include consciousness. There is no separate "unconscious mind."
You have only one mind, and that mind is aware of some of it's
processes at some times, and unaware of most processes most of
the time. We call this mental awareness "consciousness."
(If you want more information, see https://www.sciencealert.com/harvard-scientists-think-they-ve-pinpointed-the-neural-source-of-consciousness
and https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/)
When an organism only has mental processes that cannot include
consciousness, free will or self-awareness, it is hard to think
of that organism as having a mind. Insects, for instance, may
have brains that are so simple that they cannot be conscious,
free-willed or self-aware. If that is indeed the case, I would
personally say that they do not have minds, even though at times
they might be thought to be thinking.
Present-day computers do not have minds. This is very clear from
their behavior and internal architecture. Even "chatbots" and
other programs that _simulate_ conversations clearly do not have
minds because the way they come up with things to say is a
randomized phrase-choosing system, and not a system that takes
in information, interprets it, considers it and formulates
responses on the basis of a developed personality, which is what
adult human brains do.
The question for this topic could therefore be formulated as either: "Can computers ever have minds?" or "Can computers ever be conscious?" or both. It doesn't really matter how you formulate the question as long as you remember the difference between mind and consciousness.
For this paper, you can see yourself as asking the question "can a computer ever have a conscious mind?
Your task is to explain the basic argument for computer consciousness, explain one argument agains computer consciousness, critically analyze both arguments, say which one didn't fail under analysis, and explain why the other one failed.
Remember at all times that this machine is not simulating anything. the machine is emulating adult human brain functions, the way a paper ornithopter emulates the function of a bird's wings. (3/19/20)
A few semesters ago, I read a bunch of student papers on computer consciousness, and was surprised to note that almost all of them completely ignored the basic argument for computer consciousness. Instead of discussing the argument for computer consciousness, these papers assumed that computers could not be programmed to do what brains do, and asserted things like "computers only simulate consciousness" or "computers are just programmed," without giving any reason to think that either of these things are true. So I've rewritten this assignment to make it clear that 1. there is a basic argument for computer consciousness and that 2. you are not allowed to ignore that argument.
|
Basic Argument For Computer
Consciousness (Pink Box) The basic argument for computer consciousness can be summarized as follows: 1. The functional part of
the adult human brain is made entirely of
arrangements of neurons (and
glands that affect neurons). Remember that the computer is not simulating consciousness, it will be emulating all the significant adult human brain functions. (4/19/20). Do not ignore this argument in your response to this prompt. (In fact, if you ignore this argument, you could easily get zero for the assignment.) |
First, state the argument for
computer consciousness in your own words. (This is the
argument in the pink box above.)
Second, come to a conlusion about whether we have any rational
reason to doubt this conclusion.
If you decide to claim that computers can't be conscious, and
your "argument" is "computers can't be conscious because
consciousness includes X, and computers can't do X," but you
don't explain how humans do X, and you don't prove
that computers can't do X, then you haven't proved
that computers can't be conscious, and that should be your
thesis. (Do not ignore this requirement in your response.)
If you decide to claim that computers can't be conscious because
computers only simulate consciousness, you will have
to deal with the fact that your argument basically proves that humans
only simulate consciousness since the hypothetical computer that
you are saying would only simulates consciousness would be doing
exactly what your brain does now to make consciousness, so if
the computer only simulates consciousness, your brain right now
only simulates consciousnness, and so you're really not
conscious.
If you decide to claim that computers can't be conscious because
computers are just programmed, you will have to deal
with the fact that your argument basically proves that humans
are just programmed since the hypothetical computer
that you are saying would be just programmed would be
following exactly the program that your brain follows now to
make consciousness, so if the computer is just
programmed, your brain right now is just programmed,
and so you're really not conscious.
Don't forget that if you ignore the basic argument
for computer consciousness, you could get zero
for the assignment.
It should go without saying that if your only
"argument" is "computers can't be conscious because some guy
says they can't be conscious," then you haven't proved
that computers can't be conscious, and your thesis should be
that they can.
It should also go without saying that if your only
"argument" is some poorly explained quotation from someone else,
then you haven't proved that computers can't be
conscious, and your thesis should be that they can.
If you cannot come up with a clearly understood, clearly
explainable reason why computers cannot ever be conscious, then
your thesis should be that, as far as you can tell, it is
perfectly possible for computers to someday be conscious.
| Important
Note on "Imitation." (Magenta Box): Sometimes students say that the computer won't "actually" produce consciousness because it's only imitating or simulating what brains do. This is like saying that someone who imitates Gene Kelly won't actually be dancing, or that someone who imitates Julia Child in this video, won't actually produce Bernaise sauce, or that an ornithopter (a device that imitates bird wings flapping) won't actually fly. |
| Important Final Note
(Red Box): This prompt does NOT say that the scientists in the story make a computer to do anything different or less than what the human brain actually does. The computer is not running a simulation. The computer is not emulating only part of what the brain does. It is not emulating just the bits that make consciousness, or just the bits involved in making consciousness. It emulates the whole thing. Do NOT pretend that scientists in this prompt made a computer to do different things than what the brain does, and then called it "conscious." That is not the story. |
If you're not clear on how this can be done, Million-core neuromorphic supercomputer could simulate an entire mouse brain might help
If you have a hard time seeing how anyone could oppose the idea of computer consciousness, you can go to http://madwizard.com/fu_computerpro.htm, and find an anti-computer argument to analyze in your paper. (If you can do two or three pages of analysis already, you don't have to read this page. It's completely optional.)
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