'''Artificial intelligence''' (or '''AI''') is a computer-based simulation of the human thought process. It is a common feature in [[science-fiction]], but as yet no true AI (IE, one capable of passing the [[Turing Test]]) has been created, and only very limited progress has been made on such simple subcomponents as facial recognition or beating world champion chess players at [[chess]].
Many philosophers, including the [[John Searle]], have advanced the view that artificial intelligence is an impossible goal. The main argument is that it would be impossible for a machine, a creation of man, to ever achieve actual understanding and comprehension of either language or the world around it, as the machine is simply a set of rules which process symbolic information. This argument is summarized by Searle's [[thought experiment]], the [[Chinese Room]]. <ref>http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/chineser.htm</ref> Despite being a [[humanist]], Searle's arguments reflect the popular religious thought that creation can never be as great as the Creator. Thus, his conclusions are self-evident truth to any theist, as a machine is simply a metal object.
Artificial intelligence was most popular between the 60's and the 80's, when computers were still new and misunderstood. [[Alan Turing]] was responsible for much of the fever of attempting to create intelligent computers, with his publication of the paper proposing the [[Turing Test]].