Cogito ergo machina

The Turing Test is a popular theoretical computer test that we can find mentioned in science fiction movies, computational literature, engineering schools, and of course, in philosophy. This test proposes to evaluate whether a computer is intelligent enough that it is indistinguishable from the interaction it could have with another human when presenting a computer as a replacement or element to be evaluated. If the evaluator cannot differentiate whether they are interacting with a human or a computer, it is said that the machine has passed the test.

In the classic proposal, this interaction is a command interface (a chat), but the latest technological advances have allowed systems that can engage in conversation through voice, text, image, etc. Many people consider this proposal as artificial intelligence, and it is no different from what René Descartes proposed in the Discourse on the Method. He suggested that the main difference in intelligence between a human and an automaton is the inability to respond appropriately to what is said in its presence in the same way that a human could. Therefore, if a machine is capable of being indistinguishable, Descartes would have a new problem.

But this premise does not end there. I will continue with the problem, as in this supposition, there will come a time when subsequent interactions will no longer be clear if they are with a human or a computer. I will repeat it once more: it won't be long before our perception of the other entities with which we interact could be humans or machines, and we will not know.

But I don't want to stop there, because this also leads me to another thought. If human-machine interactions become equal, this means that the other will be simplified to a series of algorithms and artificial learning. In other words, we would not know if any other entity is merely a computational program. And taking this reasoning further, if we could imitate an intelligence that imitates a human being, this opens up another entry point to the simulation theory (more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis).

When we reach the next point where interactions are just as real between a human being and another human being or a machine, we will find ourselves at a turning point to understand our own reality. If we think about it, it could mean that we are already a machine.

Translated from Spanish using GPT-3.5