Artificial Intelligence

Some philosophers, including John Searle, say that computers are not really intelligent. Rather, they just simulate intelligence. However, it could be argued that, just as computers are programmed to respond in different ways to different commands, so human beings are 'programmed' by society, and education, to perform certain tasks. For example, we are programmed to do complicated things like speak a language, as well as more simply things like brush our teeth.

What are your thoughts on this comparison? Is there any difference between the programming of computers, and the 'programming' of humans by society?

I think we need to re-evaluate what we think of as intelligence just as we did about life. We learned that life can exist in places that we never thought they could and in forms that we never thought of, so what would be the difference with Intelligence? Does the fact that computers are inorganic and made up of man-made parts automatically mean that they could not posses some form of intelligence? I would think not.

I don't think there is much difference between computer programming and societal programming. They are generally the same. Microsoft created the Windows Operating System which is like saying Microsoft is the country, and the Windows is the culture and beliefs of Microsoft. You could install Windows on a various pieces of hardware but some tweaking would be necessary for it to run smoothly. This would be similar to a British person coming to live in America. The British culture is compatible with American culture, but it's not exactly the same. Some tweaking, or learning, of the American culture by the Brit would be necessary for the Brit to "operate" smoothly in America.