Review article
https://doi.org/10.31337/oz.72.4.4
Is Descartes’ Distinction Between Humans and Machines Obsolete?
Barbara Ćuk
orcid.org/0000-0002-5810-5951
; Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In the October 2017 edition of Nature an article was published titled Mastering the Game of Go Without Human Knowledge. The article points out recent achievements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). It describes an algorithm which learns, tabula rasa, superhuman proficiency in challenging domains, as for example the game Go. In his Discourse on the Method, René Descartes speaks of two features that clearly and distinctly distinguish humans from machines and animals, namely speech and reason. This paper examines the article published in Nature and seeks to discover whether it disavows Descartes, and whether one should continue to read Descartes’ texts, or is his discourse on the distinction between humans and machines an obsolete belief? Secondly, what does the endeavour to fit this research into a broader context tell us about the content and terminology that was used?
Keywords
Descartes; man; machine; speech; reason; artificial intelligence; algorithm that learns; tabula rasa
Hrčak ID:
192945
URI
Publication date:
22.1.2018.
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