New member here but been lurking for a while.
This topic caught my interest as I work in the field of computer science and I have a keen interest in everything opposite to science i.e. anything
that is outside or on the edge of the bounds of man-made science.
I think the debate has been interesting and the OP has done a good job of answering the critics and questions so not going to add to it.
It's hard to discuss such a complex subject without trying to be biased one way or another so I will try to approach this with my tech/geek hat
on.
A bit about me, I am a 30 something IT professional living a normal life, got kids and a generic house with generic neighbours. I like to tinker and
make stuff, enjoy art, sports and classic cars and martial arts science (the science and theory behind martial arts). Day to day I work as a system
architect and have a background in coding, IT systems and consultancy.
So thats me, I wanted to start my reply with a point that no one has touched on...
Computers are mechanical and 2 dimensional in nature from their core binary operations and logical patterns to their more apparent phyiscal functions
such as the hardware and components.
It was a human who dreamt up the design and eventually brought to life what we know as computers, technology and the science that goes with these.
So computers are just our thoughts that have taken physical form, a reflection of a tiny part of our self - hence the term "the brain is infinately
more capable and mysterious than any machine".
The original design of computers is open to debate, certain occultist believe it was a djin or the devil that gave men the ideas of what we know now
as the CPU and computer technology as a whole.
But I am not sure of that, either way, whether a godsend or some devilish machination, it was men who gave the ideas physical form and then evolved it
further.
Remember this is what is special about us as human beings and what seperates us from other species, we have the ability to create ideas in the unseen
void of the mind and turn them into physical reality... to coin a phrase:
"And god made Adam as a portion of his ownself, sculpted from clay.."
So the computer is ultimately our child and a reflection of some part of how we operate at a physical level but still 2 dimensional at its core and
thus limited at what it can do or evolve to.
Quantum theories are touching on multi-dimensional processing however I believe we will not really see the concept grow until the physical hardware
limitations are overcome (e.g. the type of material used like silicon etc).
So this machine that is reaching out and touching people like the OP is limited at what it can do and ultimately follows some 2-Dimensional logic in
the form of software (the OS, apps etc).
Now for it to be intelligent that is a question... AI is such a vague term it often confuses the masses - read the words, 'Artificial' meaning
something external (and man made?), not living or seen as a limited lifespan product.
Alternate Intelligence is a better term.
And AI is not actually that difficult to engineer despite what people say. You simple need to do the following:
1. Create an environment to contain the code
2. Create some basic rule sets that are generic (think OOP here)
3. Create basic, simple objects that have simple operations they perform autonomously
4. Create code (apps) that use the simple objects, combine them where necessary and using the rules, make the simple objects carry out their basic
functions or when governed by the application/code, perform a given function
The simple tasks are combined to achieve a greater goal, the idea of RISC computing 'empathic engineering'. Create enough basic objects, rules and
functions and you have something that will eventually display autonomy.
For it to be sentient it would need to act and react to its environment which it can do by applying simple actions..
tbc



