Valdemar W Setzer

AI - Artificial Intelligence or Automated Imbecility? Can Machines Think and Feel? Valdemar W Setzer

This book addresses philosophical aspects of "Artificial Intelligence" in an original way. Initially, an analysis of thinking is made, and the possibility of self-determining the next thought and the consequent free will. The subjectivity of feelings and particularities of human memory are covered. The mind and its inner activities of thinking, feeling and wanting are examined, using both its general characteristics and under the light of a fundamental working hypothesis, exposing why they cannot be fully inserted into a machine. The book also covers the essential role of the physical brain in the thinking process, and the dependency of consciousness on thinking and feeling, with an emphasis on self-consciousness. New classifications of intelligence and "Artificial Intelligence" are proposed. Searle's Chinese Room, the Turing Test, electronic chess and Kurzweil's prophecies are described and discussed. "Machine Learning," the most successful area in "Artificial Intelligence", is introduced and the problems it causes are discussed. Two films where robots are played by human actors are discussed, as well as their influence upon laymen and children. The book concludes with considerations that regarding humans and living beings as machines represents a great danger to humanity and the world, and shows how the main hypothesis may help reversing this trend.