lew (11/30/82)
My opinion is that the Turing test is too passive. I don't think that intelligence can be separated from independence of action. If you put a fly in a box it will try to get out.
wagner (12/01/82)
If you put a fly in a box it will try to get out. I am not sure what this has to do with the turing test, but I don't think it is correct as a statement by itself. I doubt that the fly is aware of its confinement. I think it just bumps into the walls as it flies about its daily business, much like it bumps into flowers and such if they are part of the environment. "Trying to get out" implies a good deal more comprehension of spatial geometry than I generally attribute to flies. Try this on for size - what is the difference between that case and If you put a single gas molecule into an otherwise evacuated box, it will try to get out. See? We talk about the molecule "trying to get out" because its behaviour (bumping into the walls) is similar to what we would do in a similar situation (beat against the walls with our fists, begging to be let out). But only its exteriour behaviour is the same. The molecule doesn't "know" about it's confinement. In normal conversation it is acceptable to be sloppy and give the fly or molecule human characteristics. But in a discussion of where intelligence is and isn't, we must be careful not to be tricked by our own word tricks. Even while we speak, mad scientists are confining molecules in inhuman experiments. Call and protest! Operators are waiting to take your calls. Call 1-800... Michael Wagner, UTCS (decvax!utzoo!utcsstat!wagner)