Monday, August 20, 2007

Thoughts on Artificial Consciousness

The mark of consciousness is the ability to come up with a novel, singular idea that defies the imagination and comprehension of others. Thus, so long as a computer produces results that are wholly intelligible* to man, it has not achieved consciousness.

*Wholly intelligible means that method and interpretation are fully comprehensible. Of course, the number of computations a computer can perform are far beyond the reach of mortal man but their complexity lies nevertheless within the bounds of his imagination. Put simply, a computer will not produce a new statement that challenges your imagination.

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