Can Computers Think? The Case For And Against Artificial Intelligence

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scientist,
for all intents and purposes, we will say only that thought is what we (as homo
sapien) experience.
So what are we to consider intelligence? The most compelling argument
is that intelligence is the ability to adapt to an environment. Desktop
computers can, say, go to a specific WWW address. But, if the address were
changed, it wouldn't know how to go about finding the new one (or even that it
should). So intelligence is the ability to perform a task taking into
consideration the circumstances of completing the task.
So now that we have all of that out of that way, can computers think?
The issue is contested as hotly among scientists as the advantages of Superman
over Batman is among pre-pubescent boys. On the one hand are the scientists who
say, as philosopher John Searle does, that “Programs are all syntax and no
semantics.” (Discover, 106) Put another way, a computer can actually achieve
thought because it “merely follows rules that tell it how to shift ...

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