[ExI] The symbol grounding problem in strong AI

[Gordon Swobe]

--- On Mon, 12/14/09, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:

> In any case, the thought experiment could be done with any part of
> the brain. Advanced nanoprocessor controlled devices which behave just
> like neurons but, being machines, lack the special ingredient
> for consciousness that neurons have...

I don't believe artificial neurons would lack the special ingredient for consciousness merely by virtue of their "being machines"! On the contrary, I think we can and ought describe real neurons as machines.

>.. are installed in place of part of your brain, the visual cortex being 
> good for illustration purposes. You are then asked if you notice 
> anything different. What will you say? Before answering, consider 
> carefully the implications of the fact that the essential feature of the 
> artificial neurons is that they behave just like biological neurons in 
> their interactions with their neighbours.

What I will say will depend on what I experience, and until the experiment happens I will have no idea what that experience might look like. However I do take issue with your assumption that your artificial neurons will (by "logical necessity", as you put it in another message) produce exactly the same experience as real neurons merely by virtue of their having the same "interactions with their neighbours" as real neurons, especially in the realm of consciousness. We simply don't know if that's true. 

So then I consider your theory about nano-neurons an interesting and plausible conjecture, one that any extrope worth his salt should take seriously, but I certainly don't consider it a logical necessity!

Now, if your artificial neurons not only interact identically with their neighbors as do real neurons, but also contain all the same electrical and chemical activities as real neurons, and contain any other activities science may not yet have discovered that take place in and about real neurons, then I agree (now by logical necessity) that my experience will seem identical to that caused by real neurons. However in that case we've started manufacturing real neurons, so it hardly seems surprising that they cause the same experience as those produced in nature.

-gts