7. Digital Minds

Abstract

‘Digital minds’ asks: what might the human‒digital interface and the prospects of artificial intelligence reveal about the mind‒body problem? The extended mind hypothesis states that our memories can be stored on external devices, such as our phones. The parity principle states that a process in the external world counts as part of our minds if it is the case that if this process were to occur inside the head, the process would be part of our minds. Can computers think? The Turing test is thought by some to test for computer thought or intelligence. The Mayan language room argument is a variation of John Searle’s much-discussed argument that aims to show that computers cannot understand language, or in other words that ‘syntax is not sufficient for semantics’. There are many other questions that reside in the intersection of ethics and artificial intelligence.