[ExI] The symbol grounding problem in strong AI

[Stathis Papaioannou]

2009/12/17 Gordon Swobe <gts_2000 at yahoo.com>:
> Stathis,
>
> You wrote this earlier:
>
>> So, Searle allows that the behaviour of a neuron could be
>> copied by a computer program, but that this artificial neuron
>> would lack the essential ingredient for consciousness.
>
> You then tried to refute that position that you attributed to Searle.
>
> But did you understand that the "this artificial neuron" to which you referred exists only as a computer simulation? I.e., only as some lines of code, only as some zeros and ones, only some 'on' and 'offs', only as some stuff going on in RAM?
>
> And do you really hold the position that contrary to Searle's claim, this artificial neuron that I've described has consciousness?
>
> I need some clarification here because we've discussed manufactured artificial neurons also.
>
> let's stipulate for clarity:
>
> Simulated = in a program
> Artificial = manufactured

What I have been considering is an artificial neuron. The artificial
neuron consists of (1) a computer, (2) a computer program which
simulates the chemical processes that take place in a biological
neuron, and (3) I/O devices which allow interaction with a biological
neuron. The I/O devices might include neurotransmitters,
chemoreceptors, electrodes to measure electrical potentials or
directly stimulate neurons, and so on. If there is a volume of neurons
that has been replaced only those near the surface of the volume which
will interact with the biological neurons need have I/O devices; or
equivalently, all of the artificial neurons may be consolidated into a
single device simulating the behaviour of the network of biological
neurons originally in place. By extension of the process where a few
of the neurons are replaced leaving behaviour and consciousness
unchanged, the whole brain is replaced. Sense organs can then also be
replaced with electronic equivalents (we already have this technology
in a crude form, eg. bionic ears), the end result being a robot that
behaves like a human and has the consciousness of a human. If the
robot's sensory input is replaced by a computer generating a virtual
environment then the body can be dispensed with altogether. Voilà: a
mind running entirely as a program on a computer.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou