We Cannot Create Artificial Intelligence via Computation Alone

Thank you for setting this up. Your previous debate was very well done, and I look forward to debating someone as skilled as you are on a topic which I find very interesting personally. I would like to place one additional requirement on the debate, if possible. The purpose is to avoid this turning into a trivial debate due to the wording of topic. There is a trivial case where pro is correct. Given a system which is capable of intelligence, if the system receives no input (sensory experience or information) for the duration of its existence, it will never become intelligence. Just as if a human were to be isolated in sensory deprivation from birth, it would never become intelligent. Given that this is not what we intend to debate, I will move on to definitions. I will accept your definition of Computation, which is copied directly from Wikipedia [2]. However, I am not completely in favor of your definition of Artificial Intelligence. On first glance, it requires a definition of 'mind'. Defining 'mind' is not a trivial task. There is some minimal subset of the following characteristics that must be expressed in an entity in a way which is observable for us humans to behave as if they had a mind [1]: Thought " the process of consideration or reasoning about something Perception " the ability to interpret information that is received through some set of senses Memory " the ability to store and recall previously perceived information with some level of accuracy Will " the ability to have choice or intention Emotion " instinctive of intuitive states of mind which may be distinguishable from reasoning or knowledge and which are derived from one"s experience Imagination " the ability to form ideas, images, or concepts which are not present to the senses Creativity " the use of imagination to form novel ideas, images, or concepts using existing ideas, images, or concepts All above definitions are paraphrased and searchable in [1] This is not to say that all of the above characteristics are required for an entity to have a mind. I doubt if we came across an alien species who exhibited all of the above characteristics except for, say, emotion, that we would reject the notion that they had minds. However, we expect that a mind would have some sufficient subset of these characteristics for us to recognize it as a mind, but beyond that, we are not yet able to precisely define what is or is not a mind. What has been defined above would more accurately be called "Artificial Cognition", or "Artificial Consciousness". A more widely accepted definition of Artificial Intelligence is an intelligence which has been designed and implemented on a machine or in software [3]. Intelligence can be defined in terms of an entities capacity for the following characteristics [4]: Logic " the use of valid reasoning (the capacity for consciously making sense of information, applying logic, establishing and verifying facts, changing or justifying actions and beliefs based on new information, etc.) [5] Abstraction " the generalization of rules and concepts from specific examples [6] Understanding " the ability to utilize abstracted knowledge to support intelligent behavior, e.g. prediction [7] Self-awareness " the abilities to introspect and to recognize oneself as separate from the environment and others [8] Communication " the conveyance of information Learning " the ability to acquire, modify, and reinforce information, behavior, skills, etc. [9] Memory " as above Creativity " as above Problem Solving (and planning) " the ability to develop and execute a method or set of actions for achieving a defined goal given a current condition [10] While these two definitions are related, they are not exactly the same. I am not sure that either of our arguments will be substantially changed by usage of one definition or the other. It is not my intention to sabotage the debate by changing definitions, but we must be more precise with our definitions in order to have a productive debate. I would be happy with a combination of these definitions, if you do not have a particularly strong preference. However, since the title of the debate is immutable, I would lean towards using a definition more similar to that of Artificial Intelligence, rather than that of "Artificial Cognition" or "Artificial Consciousness". I hope my points and concerns regarding definitions are well-taken and not misunderstood. I hope for a good debate, and I would like to be carefully aware of exactly what we will be debating. As you have accepted the BoP, I will intend to show that you have not met your BoP, and may also present arguments for the potential to achieve artificial intelligence using purely computational means (including the input of data). All the best. [1] Dictionary.com [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] Poole, D., Mackworth, A., & Goebel, R. (1998). Computational Intelligence: A Logical Approach. New York: Oxford University Press. [4] http://en.wikipedia.org... [5] Jacquette, D. (2002). A companion to Philosophical Logic. Wiley Online Library. p 2 [6] Suzanne K. Langer (1953). Philosophy in a New Key p. 90: [7] Chaitin, Gregory. (2006). The Limits of Reason [8] http://en.wikipedia.org... [9] http://en.wikipedia.org... [10] S. Ian Robertson, Problem solving, Psychology Press, 2001, p. 2.