Would it be theoretically possible to make a robot or computer that could think?

Question

Why or why not? How could we tell whether it was thinking or not? For that matter, how can we tell whether other people are thinking or not? Have you ever been accused of being careless or mentally lazy when actually you had been thinking very hard? What is thinking?

Answer 1

I have been checking Artificial Intelligence for many years and in the future, like in 100 years, we may have machines with limited intelligence, like a cat.

Such a robot would say on its own 2000 sentences and understand about 4000 sentences.

Scientists have no idea of what is going one in the mind.

I say 100 years, but even working very hard at it, it may take longer.

Answer 2

“The impossible - what nobody can do until somebody does”

Answer 3

Are you truly having independent creative thoughts provoked by "thinking", or are you really just asking spontaneous questions based a set number, and order of chemical reactions taking place in your brain?

Answer 4

Absolutely not. Positively yes. It all depends on your definition of the word "think". Really it's a philosophical question. If we could create software that could absolutely emulate the processes of the human brain, would it actually think or would it just be an advanced calculator? Thinking, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 5

Behavior.  That is the test for thinking.  Results - that will determine if people will judge you careless or mentally lazy.  

Thinking is simply problem solving - whether we are hungry and searching for food, bored and trying to entertain ourselves,  ambitious and trying to get ahead, lazy and trying to avoid work.  This applies to dogs and cats as well as people - but people can do more types of thinking.  We can benefit from the experience of others - conceiving the outcome of actions from the experience of others, not just our own.  We can envision a future and then formulate and execute a plan to make it happen.  

I wonder if a machine can ever be made to think better than a human.  Pure analysis is not a path to creativity.  Creativity is not efficient or dependable, but is vital.  So if we build a creative, thinking machine, we may just get angry at it and call it lazy because it was playing with the garden hose and  forgot to take out the garbage.

Answer 6

Read about the Turing test.  It depends on your definition and criteria for thinking.  There's not a definitive test for whether another person is thinking.  Observing their behavior gives clues.  If you really care what thinking is, study it.