merely producing outputs based on inputs , I believe that machines are unlikely to ever be conscious and thus will not be able to think . However , it may be argued that machines are continuing to improve exponentially , and so although they may not be capable of consciousness or thought right now , there is no reason to believe that they will not reach this point in the future ( Bringsjord , Govindarajula and Zalta , 2020 ). It is possible to argue that , at present , machines are not conscious because they are not attempting to replicate the functions of the brain , but if we were to take a functionalist perspective , all a machine would need to do to achieve consciousness would be constructed in such a way that they carry out the same functions as the brain ( Polger ).
Although I do not want to completely rule out the possibility of machines reaching a point where they can replicate the functions of the brain and thus achieve consciousness and thought , I believe that this is still a highly unlikely scenario . My reason for this can be found within the Integrated Information Theory ( IIT ). In brief , this perspective states that consciousness arises not only from a system having information about itself , but from that information being highly integrated and to a maximal degree ; in other words , the information needs to be interconnected in order to allow high-level consciousness to occur , but also more interconnected than any other system of which it is part . The human brain is said to have highly integrated information through the connections between neurons , and this is why we have a large amount of consciousness . Machines on the other hand can be shown to have low levels of integrated information as each part of the system operates relatively independently , and machines have a very low level of consciousness , far from that as a human .
I believe that IIT serves to support my opinion that machines are unlikely to reach a point where they are able to think , and certainly they cannot at present , as they have a low level of integrated information and therefore a low level of consciousness . I believe that consciousness is necessary for genuine independent thought , as this is what allows a human to choose a response as opposed to producing an output based on what they are programmed to do . Consequently , unless the way a machine is made is dramatically altered , I do not think that it will be possible that a machine could think , as it will merely be taking inputs and producing outputs on the way it is programmed .
In conclusion , I have argued that it is not possible for a machine to think , and that it is unlikely that it ever will be possible . I have outlined why I believe that mere intelligence is not enough to prove a machine is thinking , contrary to Turing ' s belief , as it is simply producing coherent outputs based on its programming . I argued that consciousness is necessary to show that any being or machine is thinking , as this allows us to respond based on free thought , and that our answers cannot be predicted or predetermined . I used IIT to show why machines would have to drastically change in order to be conscious and therefore think , as they would require much higher levels of integrated information as is the case in the human brain . This has led to the conclusion that machines cannot think , and it is unlikely that they ever will , as they are not conscious .
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