As a human living in a world that is constantly changing and progressing, understanding, being aware and knowing the surface of artificial intelligence is beneficial, especially when AI most likely exists in some form in your day to day life. From the beginning, Searle poses the question, “Could a machine think?”; a question that he answers throughout the entirety of his work and scholarly article. After forming the Chinese Room argument and responding to its replies, Searle came to the conclusion that no, a machine can not think, at least not on its own. Searle tells us, “The aim of the Chinese room example was to try to show this by showing that as soon as we put something into the system that really does have intentionality (a man), and we program him with the formal program, you can see that the formal program carries no additional intentionality. It adds nothing, for example, to a man’s ability to understand Chinese” (Searle 422). This means that because the existence and actions of a program or robot are because we program them to do so, even adding in a person with intentionality doesn’t change the fact that they are programmed to do whatever it is that they are doing. Even if you aren’t interested in artificial intelligence or science for that matter, one could also benefit from this information about our brains and minds as humans. Opposers of AI might even be at ease knowing that it is impossible for a machine to really simulate the human mind. Searle concludes, “The point is that the brain’s causal capacity to produce intentionality cannot consist in its instantiating a computer program… Whatever it is that the brain does to produce intentionality, it cannot consist in instantiating a program since no program, by itself, is sufficient for intentionality” (Searle 424). It doesn’t matter how the brain does it, the point is that the intentionality and individuality that humans have is impossible for a machine to have.
So, why should you care about any of this? You should care because whether you like it or not, you are a part of it. As long as you are living in this world, AI effects you. Ideas, conversations, thoughts, and arguments surrounding AI have existed since the heartless Tin man from the Wizards of Oz, to Alan Turing in the 1950s, to John Searle in 1980 (Anyoha). Needless to say, talk of AI is still alive today because AI has been only progressing ever since and won’t stop. While it isn’t necessary to indulge in heavy reading concerning artificial intelligence if it is not a desire for you, it doesn’t hurt to be knowledgable on a subject that affects the world you live in.
