The Turing test can provide some
evidence of intelligence, but it
penalizes non-human intelligent
behavior.[361]
U.S. Computer Science PhD graduates have specialized in "AI".[353] About 800,000 "AI"-related U.S. job
openings existed in 2022.[354] According to PitchBook research, 22% of newly funded startups in 2024
claimed to be AI companies.[355]
Philosophical debates have historically sought to determine the nature of intelligence and how to make
intelligent machines.[356] Another major focus has been whether machines can be conscious, and the
associated ethical implications.[357] Many other topics in philosophy are relevant to AI, such as
epistemology and free will.[358] Rapid advancements have intensified public discussions on the
philosophy and ethics of AI.[357]
Alan Turing wrote in 1950 "I propose to consider the question 'can machines think'?"[359] He advised
changing the question from whether a machine "thinks", to "whether or not it is possible for machinery to
show intelligent behaviour".[359] He devised the Turing test, which measures the ability of a machine to
simulate human conversation.[323] Since we can only observe the behavior of the machine, it does not
matter if it is "actually" thinking or literally has a "mind". Turing notes that we can not determine these
things about other people but "it is usual to have a polite convention that everyone thinks."[360]
Russell and Norvig agree with Turing that intelligence must be
defined in terms of external behavior, not internal structure.[1]
However, they are critical that the test requires the machine to
imitate humans. "Aeronautical engineering texts", they wrote, "do
not define the goal of their field as making 'machines that fly so
exactly like pigeons that they can fool other pigeons.'"[362] AI
founder John McCarthy agreed, writing that "Artificial
intelligence is not, by definition, simulation of human
intelligence".[363]
McCarthy defines intelligence as "the computational part of the
ability to achieve goals in the world".[364] Another AI founder,
Marvin Minsky similarly describes it as "the ability to solve hard
problems".[365] The leading AI textbook defines it as the study of
agents that perceive their environment and take actions that maximize their chances of achieving defined
goals.[1] These definitions view intelligence in terms of well-defined problems with well-defined
solutions, where both the difficulty of the problem and the performance of the program are direct
measures of the "intelligence" of the machine—and no other philosophical discussion is required, or may
not even be possible.
Another definition has been adopted by Google,[366] a major practitioner in the field of AI. This definition
stipulates the ability of systems to synthesize information as the manifestation of intelligence, similar to
the way it is defined in biological intelligence.
Philosophy
Defining artificial intelligence