One of the attributes necessary for Watson to be considered human is that it must be conscious. From Rachlin's (2012) point of view, that of teleological behaviorism, consciousness refers to the organization of behavioral complexity in which overt behavior is distributed widely over time. Consciousness is something that humans do, or achieve, in…

Rachlin (2012) makes two general assertions: (a) "To be human is to behave as humans behave, and to function in society as humans function," and (b) "essential human attributes such as consciousness, the ability to love, to feel pain, to sense, to perceive, and to imagine may all be possessed by a computer'. Although Rachlin's article is an…

This essay uses the recent victory of an IBM computer (Watson) in the TV game, "Jeopardy," to speculate on the abilities Watson would need, in addition to those it has, to be human. The essay's basic premise is that to be human is to behave as humans behave and to function in society as humans function. Alternatives to this premise are considered…

In this article, the author argues that the computer/artificial intelligence (AI) metaphor dominates current thinking about the operation of the mind among educators and the public, and that the metaphor limits one's understanding of how the mind really works to detrimental effect. In particular, the author posits that ideas about literacy are…

Describes artificial intelligence (AI) as the study of intelligence with the ideas and methods of computation. States that the goal is to make computers more intelligent and thereby uncover the principles that make intelligent behavior possible. Discusses knowledge representations, production (if-then) systems, and expert systems as forms of AI.…

To what degree can computers be programed to create original, aesthetic musical compositions? Three examples of computer-generated melody illustrate that computers are by no means close to producing advanced musical works which call for aesthetic and intuitive decision making. (Author/KC)

To be creative, an act must have as its outcome something new in the way it is intelligible and valuable. Computers have restricted contexts of information and have no ability to weigh bits of information. Computer optimists presuppose either determinism or indeterminism, either of which abandons creativity. (MT)

In order for information to be stored and processed in a computer, it must be reduced to data and organized and systematized in accordance with the rules and principles of formal logic. Reducing manifold reality to data for use by the computer results in loss of information because an arbitrary screening of data eliminates that gathered by the…

Argues that, although expert systems--which are supposed to give users all the advantages of consulting with human experts--can be useful for medical diagnosis, where tests tend to be reliable, they can be hazardous in such areas as psychological testing, where test reliability is difficult to measure. (MBR)

Recent technological developments in interfaces, programing philosophy, and artificial intelligence may invite the participation of women programers, who find a concrete, intuitive, and informal style of programing more congenial than the hierarchical, rule-driven style heretofore pervasive in computer culture. (DM)

Reviews and discusses claims for, and objections to, the literal intelligence of computers and of documents. Topics discussed include contrasts between spoken language and written language; the Turing test, including linguistic responses to questions; the presence or absence of intentionality; and Plato's "Phaedrus" and its concern with…

The many authors debating whether computers can understand often fail to clarify what understanding is, and no agreement exists on this important issue. In his Chinese room argument, Searle (1980) claims that computers running formal programs can never understand. I discuss Searle's claim based on a definition of understanding that is empirical,…

This paper discusses a number of educational concerns suggested by the computational metaphor which proposes the comparison of processes of mind to realizable or imaginable computer activities. Among the concerns discussed are those which include procedural modes of knowledge representation and control knowledge--knowing what to do. Also included…

The ability to generalize is probably the primary aspect of intelligence. The computer's inability to generalize is the major stumbling block associated with machine intelligence. (Author/CP)

Overview of the artificial intelligence (AI) field provides a definition; discusses past research and areas of future research; describes the design, functions, and capabilities of expert systems and the "Turing Test" for machine intelligence; and lists additional sources for information on artificial intelligence. Languages of AI are…