- Computing machines can think like us only if a machine can run a program for Chinese and thereby come to understand Chinese.
- A machine can run a program for Chinese without thereby coming to understand Chinese.
- Therefore, machines cannot think like us. (That is, machines can follow syntactic rules to manipulate symbols, but they do not have an understanding of meaning or semantics.)
But what does it mean to understand Chinese (or any other language)? Arguably, to be able to manipulate the symbols of a language in accordance with certain rules is to understand the language. Consider mathematics, for instance. If one is able to manipulate mathematical symbols by following a set of rules, then one can be said to understand mathematics.
If this is correct, then one could argue as follows:
- If a computing machine can run a program for Chinese and thereby come to understand Chinese, then a computing machine can think like us.
- A computing machine can run a program for Chinese and thereby come to understand Chinese.
- Therefore, a computing machine can think like us.
I believe that the first argument, that machines cannot think like us because they don’t necessarily understand Chinese, is more convincing because language cannot simply be understood through the use of certain rules. While the definition of “language,” (the ability to manipulate symbols with certain rules in an understandable way), may apply to mathematics, mathematics lacks the ability to convey emotion/feelings/deeper and hidden thoughts. The ability to understand a language is also contingent upon understanding of the secondary thoughts conveyed. Language can be manipulated in a way that the same sentence can convey different meanings. Double entendres can be used to convey two different meanings, usually exploiting the double meanings of words in context. Sentences like “Children make nutritious snacks” have two meanings. It can mean that children are physically making snacks that happen to be nutritious, or it could mean that eating children makes for a nutritious snack. One can manipulate “symbols,” letters and words, in accordance with grammar rules and other rules, but the meaning behind the sentence is not clear. Therefore, the idea that understanding a language is simply being able to manipulate the symbols of a language in accordance with certain rules is flawed. The ability to understand language also takes into account the ability to understand context, the ability to differentiate and understand other meanings.
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