Examining Epistemological Relations of Descartes Thinking Mind and Processing in Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Whether machines think remains a contemporary question in face rapid sciencetech
developments. However, developments in humanoid-AI and the increasing
human dependency on AI in decision making, generation of contents for defining
realities and trust on their consistencies beg the question whether their outputs
are still just mechanical. Using critical realism methodology, the study aims at
analizing the operational modes AI and that of Descartes’ thinking-thing. The
achieved objectives include; examining operational relations between humanoid-
AI and Descartes’ thinking-self; examining possibilities of characterizing
humanoid-AI operations as thinking in its capacities of processing and iteration
of billions of information-data; and establishing basis for humanizing
humanoid-AI under Descartes’ view on what being human entails. The study
concludes that thinking is characteristic of processing and what humanoid-AI
does to produce results is also processing which is characteristic of thinking.
Therefore, processing being characteristic of thinking is a condition to categorize
humanoid-AI as Descartes’ thinking-thing.