Open AccessIn Defense of Strong AI
Author(s) -
Corey A. Baron
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
stance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1943-1899
pISSN - 1943-1880
DOI - 10.33043/s.10.1.38-49
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , syntax , sarcasm , meaning (existential) , computer science , linguistics , order (exchange) , artificial intelligence , natural language processing , cognitive science , epistemology , psychology , philosophy , irony , biochemistry , chemistry , finance , economics
This paper argues against John Searle in defense of the potential for computers to understand language (“Strong AI”) by showing that semantic meaning is itself a second-order system of rules that connects symbols and syntax with extralinguistic facts. Searle’s Chinese Room Argument is contested on theoretical and practical grounds by identifying two problems in the thought experiment, and evidence about “machine learning” is used to demonstrate that computers are already capable of learning to form true observation sentences in the same way humans do. Finally, sarcasm is used as an example to extend the argument to more complex uses of language