Artificial Intelligence (week 6)

Some philosophers, including John Searle, say that computers are not really intelligent. Rather, they just simulate intelligence. However, it could be argued that, just as computers are programmed to respond in different ways to different commands, so human beings are 'programmed' by society and education, to perform certain tasks. Is there any difference between the programming of computers, and the 'programming' of humans by society?

I have to agree with John Searle on this. I think computers do a really great job of simulating intelligence but I think there's a difference between real live intelligence and a computer that's programmed with responses to things that it has no real understanding of. I really like Searle's Chinese Room idea, I think it describes the apparent "intelligence" of a high functioning, yet non-thinking /non-understanding object really well. If something just produces shapes in response to other shapes, in accordance with some pre-written code of translation - even if the shapes make perfect sense to everyone else - it's a really good performance, but it's not real intelligence. I think for it to be called intelligence, a computer would have to show some obvious understanding. Maybe come up with ideas of its own? Not just search results or computations, but real ideas unique to itself. This might show that it understands what it's being asked, instead of just searching huge databases of information, using Key Words, and selecting some canned response.
The way we teach babies and children is sort of like programming computers, but we don't have to actually program everything into them. A lot of stuff they just pick up on their own from observing, copying, experiencing things for themselves, recognizing the merits of good behaviour and the downside of bad behaviour, etc. They can try things out and realize certain things won't work for them, and then maybe try other ways.
Can a computer learn on it's own? Can it try something, have it not work out, and then try something else? I have had some maddening experiences where my computer has been stuck in some kind of a loop, and just could not get past whatever point where it had a breakdown in its system - if it really had intelligence, as opposed to just running along on a pre-written script, it should be able to change its mind, go back a bit, try a different idea, or maybe even see where the directions it has been given are wrong, and correct them.
It's a grand little computer, don't get me wrong, and can do a million things I'll never be able to do - but there are so many things it will never master. Understanding, emotional intelligence, recognizing sarcasm, humor, etc, having a sense of right and wrong, learning from experience... It's hard to come up with some sign of intelligence that every single intelligent person or creature shares, though, so in a way the definition of intelligence might actually apply to computers. I just don't want to accept that, though! For something to be intelligent, I think at the very least it should be alive.
ps I tried talking with one of those robot things today and by the third sentence it was already obviously not understanding me, and I wasn't even trying to trick it. If that's the test for computer intelligence, then I don't think humans need to worry yet:)