Lycan's problem with the Turning Test is its reliance upon the perceptions of the testing. Lycan suggests that then like any other perceptual or quasi-perceptual faculty, the internal attention mechanism is a mechanism and can break down. (Lycan, 1999)
There are problems with the Turning test that these two scientists do not even arise, because they are more of law rather than of neurology -- for example, how can the individual consciousness of the tester be the final authority of personhood, a judge and jury without any real appeal? Should the tester's credulousness or lack of skepticism, and the tendency of the tester to assume that the entity that things most like the tester is human be the final judgment of personhood? Is it not likely that the tester would mistake a robot for human, not because the robot was actually thinking, but because one set of responses struck the tester's faulty judgment as more or less human seeming, based upon subjective standards -- as in, this set of responses reminded me of my mother's way of thinking, therefore it must be the human and not the robotic and manufactured entity! Even if true AI is not feasible, humans, because of our own faulty and subjective wiring, might not be able to decide in a blind test, the true nature of consciousness and personhood either.
Andrew, it might be suggested, might not be human, but as there is a reasonable doubt in the matter, it...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now