Are Computers Smarter than Us? pg 122 #3

Can Computers Think?

The top down school is “programming computers to process information using symbols” (Davidson 117). Computers will never be able to process information like humans because we use , complexity when analyzing problems. We can instill rules into a computer to make decisions but rules will never be able to replace real world experience and emotion. I believe emotion is key when making decisions because we make many decisions using ethos and pathos. A computer is not able to decipher emotion and could make incorrect decisions based on a set of rules that can be broken by emotion.

Minsky is critical of artificial intelligence because he believes that the human brain is too complex. A computer has a greater capacity to retain information, but according to Brooks a computer cannot critically think and make decisions. The ability to store large amounts of data is highly useful but is not better than human thought. I agree with Brooks and I think that people forget that computers are made by humans. A computer can never be all knowing and superior because it was created by humans and is subject to human error. This is why computers have malfunctions etc.

I believe that the main reason people hates computers is because they are quickly making jobs obsolete. Computers and machines are putting people out of work because they are able to perform menial tasks. However, I am glad that we use computers for these tasks because it helps out society grow. By taking away these jobs, people are force to become qualified for higher status work. If people aim to better themselves and become more educated and qualified, then our society will benefit. I believe that one day we will be able to give basic human characteristics and brain patterns to a robot and I believe this will also benefit society. I hope that one day we are able to put robots in dangerous career fields such as police officers and fire fighters.