Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!esosun!jackson
From: jackson@esosun.UUCP (Jerry Jackson)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Intelligence / Consciousness Test for Machines (Neural-Nets)???
Message-ID: <263@balder.esosun.UUCP>
Date: 6 Oct 88 23:58:51 GMT
References: <1141@usfvax2.EDU> <40680@linus.UUCP>
Organization: SAIC, San Diego
Lines: 28
In-reply-to: bwk@mitre-bedford.ARPA's message of 5 Oct 88 20:24:56 GMT


In article <40680@linus.UUCP> bwk@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Barry W. Kort) writes:

   In article <1141@usfvax2.EDU> mician@usfvax2.usf.edu.UUCP,
   (Rudy Mician) asks:

> >When can a machine be considered a conscious entity?  

 >  A normal person who is asleep is usually regarded as unconscious,
 > as is a person in a coma.  An alert Dalmation may be considered
 >  conscious.


A person who is in a coma is unconscious because he is incapable of
experiencing the outside world.  Consciousness is a *subjective*
phenomenon.  It is truly not even possible to determine if your
neighbor is conscious.  If a person felt no pain and experienced no
colors, sounds, thoughts, emotions, or tactile sensations he could be
considered unconscious.  Note that we would be unable to determine
this.  He could behave in exactly the same way while being completely
inert/dead inside.  Machines that are obviously unconscious such as
feedback-controlled battleship guns and thermostats respond to their
environments but, I would hardly call them conscious.  It is hard to
imagine what one would have to do to make a computer conscious, but it
does seem that it would involve more than adding a few rules.


--Jerry Jackson