Computers have become an integral part of our everyday lives. We rely upon these machines to perform innumerable tasks that we often take for granted. Most people realize that computers are able to perform the multitude of functions as a consequence of the programming they receive. These programs give computers a set of instructions that governs their transition from one information processing state to another. Thus, computational machines are able to respond to a certain set of inputs with a certain range of outputs. In order to comprehend programs one needs only to describe these instructions in functional terms. In this regard, computer programs are extremely similar to functional accounts of the human mind, which contend that in order to understand the mind, one must simply examine the relationship between stimulus and behavior. Consequently, the question has naturally arisen as to whether a computer which consisted of a sufficiently sophisticated program would be capable of thought. This question has resulted in lively debate, with one camp of people including John R. Searle emphatically denying the plausibility of Artificial Intelligence. On the

other side of the debate, individuals such as Paul and Patricia Churchland have declared that although a serial machine with a program might not be able to think, Artificial Intelligence might be feasible in parallel processing computers.

The Churchlands then attempt to justify their own theory regarding how artificial intelligence might be possible. They assert that presently existing computers are not capable of cognitive ability as a result of the serial manner in which they process information. Instead, they contend that parallel processing computers, which process data in a similar manner as the human mind, might one day be able to exhibit cognition. They arrive at this conclusion for a number of reasons. First, the Chuchlands feel that a parallel processing system would offer a dramatic speed advantage over conventional computers. Second, they believe the parallel nature of the system makes it more fault tolerant and functionally persistent. Finally, the Chuchlands contend that a parallel system would be able to store large amounts of information in a distributed fashion, which could be accessed quickly. They argue that these three characteristics might one day make it possible to create a machine sophisticated enough to exhibit cognition. Furthermore, this parallel machine would not be manipulating symbols according to structure sensitive rules. Rather, the Churchlands argue, symbol manipulation would be just one of the many cognitive skills that this system might learn to display. Accordingly, rule-governed symbol manipulation would not be this system's basic mode of operation and it would consequently be free of the Chinese room argument2.

Nonetheless, absurd as this conclusion may appear now, the Churchlands point out that during the 19th century, when the scientific community did not appreciate the systematic parallels between the properties of light and of electromagnetic waves, this argument could have served as a compelling rebuttal to Maxwell's hypothesis. Furthermore, Maxwell himself would have had difficulty trying to refute this conclusion. He could have argued that the magnet was moving at an extremely low rate of oscillation, yet critics could counter that the rate of oscillation was irrelevant, and that all that was need to create light according to his theory was present in the darkened room. Maxwell might then make the seemingly ridiculous assertion that the room in fact is bathed with light, yet this tacit would probably have elicited the response that it is obvious to any person that the room is pitch black. This would leave Maxwell with only three methods by which to refute the argument. He could insist that premise three of his detractors argument was false, that the luminous room argument demonstrated nothing about the nature of light, and that an ongoing research program which investigated the relationship between of both these phenomena was required in order to settle the

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1976
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)