Is my computer smarter than me?

The advances made in technology, even within the last decade, have grown so enormously that one can only imagine what the level of technology will be in the future. To think that a machine can grow to be smarter then its' creator is almost frightening. But, think back a few decades.....to say there would be devices in your car that will lead you in the direction you were headed, or that you could have one device used for internet, telephone, email, text messaging was almost unspeakable. So who is to say that a machine surpass the human brain someday?


Minsky and Aleksander refer to the "walking state of mind"; which they say is a synthesis of a number of attributes- learning, language, planning, attention and inner perception (Minskys 119). He throughouly provided evidence that demonstrated how a machine could complete each one of those tasks. But does that mean that they surpass the intelligence of a human? Some scientists and philosophers argue that mechanical intelligence is not the same as the mind. I agree with this statement. Yes, I do agree that computers have the ability to perform tasks involving reasoning, learning, planning and other functions usually associated with the human intelligence, but they can only do so because they were programmed by a human. Simple phrases like "on top of" or "to the right of", that the article points out, could not be understood by the machine. A machine could not complete everyday tasks such as cleaning, as the article pointed out.

Minskey and Aleksander are developing sophisticated neural networks and computer programs, which they believe will mimic, and possibly surpass, human consciousness (Davidson 115). I do not agree with Minsky's belief that machines could be even more conscious and intelligent than humans, for the same reasons that he himself pointed out. For one, common sense. Humans have the ability to adapt to their environment and develop common sense. I think that consciousness goes way beyond Minky's definition of awareness. I believe that consciousness is a mixture of thoughts, ideas, emotions, common sense, intelligence, and many of these factors machines lack. I do not think that computers have the capabilities that human beings hold.