[ExI] Meaningless Symbols.

[Gordon Swobe]

--- On Sun, 1/10/10, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:

> 2010/1/11 John Clark <jonkc at bellsouth.net>:
> 
>> If the computer did understand the meaning you think
>> the machine would continue to operate exactly as it did before, 
>> back when it didn't have the slightest understanding of anything. 
>> So, given that understanding is a completely useless property why 
>> should computer scientists even bother figuring out ways to make a 
>> machine understand? Haven't they got anything
>> better to do?
> 
> Gordon has in mind a special sort of understanding which
> makes no objective difference and, although he would say it makes a
> subjective difference, it is not a subjective difference that a person
> could notice.

Not so. The conscious intentionality I have in mind certainly does make a tremendously important subjective difference in every person. You and I have it but vegetables and unconscious philosophical zombies do not. It appears software/hardware systems also do not and cannot. 

John makes the point that one might argue that it does not matter from a practical point of view if software/hardware systems can or cannot have consciousness. I don't disagree, and I have no axe to grind on that subject. I don't pretend to defend strong AI research in software/hardware systems.

My interest concerns the ramifications of the seeming hopelessness of strong AI research in s/h systems for us as humans. It tells us something important in the philosophy of mind.

I wonder if everyone understands that if strong AI cannot work in digital computers then it follows that neither can "uploading" work as that term normally finds usage here. 

-gts