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From: ercn67@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes)
Newsgroups: comp.ai,sci.philosophy.tech,talk.philosophy.misc
Subject: Re: Can Machines Think?
Message-ID: <1591@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 12 Jan 90 15:44:56 GMT
References: <1037@ra.stsci.edu> <6902@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> <AZaVc0e00jaMM4hEtx@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: ercn67@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes)
Organization: Edinburgh University Computing Service
Lines: 23

Just a thought while hairs are being split on the difference between
thinking computers, thinking machines, and thinking hybrids of computers
and machines.

It seems to have been suggested that computers would need to be able to
manipulate the environment (basically have senses and have hands) in
order to do what we call thinking. I'm not sure I'd agree but I think
it's irrelevant anyway, for the following reasons.

As a thought experiment (which is all thinking computers/machines are at
the present time) suppose that we simulate a world within a computer
system. Then we build an artificial intelligence embedded withing this 
simulation and allow "it" a simulated ability to sense and manipulate
the simulated environment. This would seem to fulfill the criteria for a
hybrid computer/machine which can sense and manipulate the "real" world.
It would however simply be a program in a computer system. The point
being that both sense and manipulation are simply a form of information 
processing which is what computers do anyway.

It could be argued that this would just be "simulated thinking" but it
isn't clear that this would be any different from the real thing.

 -- A Friend of Fernando Poo