Minds and Macines What the Human Mind Can Do That the Computer Can't

Argument Summary

Morton Hunt argues that although there are many things that a computer can do, however the abilities of a computer will never be able to replicate many of the defining characteristics of consciousness. Much of that which remains not yet replicable by artificial intelligence are the same kinds of stuff that the artificial intelligence will never feasibly be able to achieve. An example would be that of self-awareness. Cognitive science offers a developing model of consciousness which includes being able to internalize the real world in our minds in symbolic form. That is, we perceive not only the real world, but also our interpretation of this perception, which are both reconciled into something we consider to be consciousness or human ability to be self-aware of their own place within this process.

Another aspect of humanity that will be hard to model artificially is also the creative processes that each individual experiences to a greater or lesser extent. Much of the process of human reason takes place under the surface; although we realize we have impulses, instincts, and reactions, much of these processes occur within our sub-consciousness and we only become conscious of them during the last phases of their manifestation. Furthermore, there is an inherent longing for the human mind to exercise itself in new directions; called curiosity, restlessness, or even playfulness by some. This is another aspect to artificial intelligence that cannot be replicated since the computer will ultimately be reliant on the programmer for a sense of direction which makes it more of a passive system; in contrast, to an active system that can be found in human reasoning.

Argument Rebuttal

Although it is tempting to want to believe that the human consciousness it ultimately unique, special, and unable to be reproduced, the fact of the matter is that there is an inherent biasness to this line...

If you take away any supernatural occurrences, such as an immaterial soul, and view the problem from a biological reductionist standpoint, then the human body is nothing more than a set of incredibly advanced systems working together to ultimately produce consciousness and allow the human species to capacity to be most adaptable species in the history of evolution. It is clear that we are ignorant to the complexities of many of these systems.
Cognitive neuroscience is still in a developmental stage are we are still learning much about how the brain functions and how it functions in relation to other processes in the human body. There is absolutely no reason to believe that these systems and these processes fall outside of the same laws that occur in biology and the natural world in general. The body undergoes chemical, psychical, and neurological processes that are fully consistent with the natural laws that guide the scientific understanding of the world that has been accumulated over time by the application of the scientific method. Even though the complexity of these systems in humans in almost unfathomably complex, they are systems nonetheless.

It wasn't until recent generations that we have learned about the role of genes and genetics in sexual reproduction. The DNA and RNA molecules were discovered a mere few decades ago. Within that time span, our understanding of genetics has accelerated at a remarkable pace; to the extent that we now have the entire human genome mapped out. There are now commercially available DNA tests that let…