Difference between revisions of "Chinese room"
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| − | The '''Chinese room''' is a [[thought experiment]] devised by philosopher John Searle to prove his point that no matter how well a computer program, such as a chatbot which receives sentences from a human and replies as if it were a person, simulates the ability to understand a language, the program itself does not actually understand human language. <ref>http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/searle_chinese_room/searle_chinese_room.php</ref> | + | The '''Chinese room''' is a [[thought experiment]] devised by philosopher John Searle to prove his point that no matter how well a computer program, such as a chatbot which receives sentences from a human and replies as if it were a person, simulates the ability to understand a language, the program itself does not actually understand human language. In Searle's thought experiment, a English-speaking person who doesn't speak Chinese sits in a room with a book written in English that contains a set of instructions which allow him to answer any Chinese question in Chinese. When Chinese questions are passed into the room, the English-speaking person could write down a response in Chinese. The English speaker reading English instructions, like a chatbot reading computer code, is able to respond to Chinese questions but does not actually understand Chinese.<ref>http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/searle_chinese_room/searle_chinese_room.php</ref> |
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
[[Category:Computer Science]] | [[Category:Computer Science]] | ||
Revision as of 05:05, February 22, 2016
The Chinese room is a thought experiment devised by philosopher John Searle to prove his point that no matter how well a computer program, such as a chatbot which receives sentences from a human and replies as if it were a person, simulates the ability to understand a language, the program itself does not actually understand human language. In Searle's thought experiment, a English-speaking person who doesn't speak Chinese sits in a room with a book written in English that contains a set of instructions which allow him to answer any Chinese question in Chinese. When Chinese questions are passed into the room, the English-speaking person could write down a response in Chinese. The English speaker reading English instructions, like a chatbot reading computer code, is able to respond to Chinese questions but does not actually understand Chinese.[1]