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But state-of-the-art machines, per Arthur C. Clarke, aren’t magic: it just ''seems'' like it, sometimes. They are a two-dimensional, simplified model of human intelligence. A proxy: a modernist [[simulacrum]]. They are a shorthand way of mimicking a limited sort of sentience, potentially useful in known environments and constrained circumstances. | But state-of-the-art machines, per Arthur C. Clarke, aren’t magic: it just ''seems'' like it, sometimes. They are a two-dimensional, simplified model of human intelligence. A proxy: a modernist [[simulacrum]]. They are a shorthand way of mimicking a limited sort of sentience, potentially useful in known environments and constrained circumstances. | ||
Yet we have begun to model ourselves upon machines. The most dystopian part of John Cryan’s opening quote was the first part — “''today, we have people doing work like robots''” — because it | Yet we have begun to model ourselves upon machines. The most dystopian part of John Cryan’s opening quote was the first part — “''today, we have people doing work like robots''” — because it describes a stupid present reality. We have persuaded ourselves that “being machine-like’’ should be our loftiest aim. But if we are in a footrace where what matters is simply strength, speed, consistency, modularity, [[fungibility]] and ''mundanity'' — humans will surely ''lose''. | ||
But we ''aren’t'' in that foot race. Strength, speed, consistency, fungibility and patience are the loftiest aims ''only where there is no suitable machine''. | But we ''aren’t'' in that foot race. Strength, speed, consistency, fungibility and patience are the loftiest aims ''only where there is no suitable machine''. | ||
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===Body and mind as metaphors=== | ===Body and mind as metaphors=== | ||
We are used to the “[[Turing machine]]” as a [[metaphor]] for “mind” but | We are used to the “[[Turing machine]]” as a [[metaphor]] for “mind” but it is a bad metaphor. It is unambitious. It does not do justice to the human mind. | ||
Perhaps we could invert it. We might instead use “body” — in that dishonourably dualist, [[Descartes|Cartesian]] sense — as a [[metaphor]] for a Turing machine, and “mind” for natural human intelligence. “Mind” and “body” in this sense, are a practical guiding principle for the [[division of labour]] between human and machine: what goes to “body”, give to a machine | Perhaps we could invert it. We might instead use “body” — in that dishonourably dualist, [[Descartes|Cartesian]] sense — as a [[metaphor]] for a Turing machine, and “mind” for natural human intelligence. “Mind” and “body” in this sense, are a practical guiding principle for the [[division of labour]] between human and machine: what goes to “body”, give to a machine: motor skills; temperature regulation; the pulmonary system; digestion; aspiration — the conscious mind has no business there. There is little it can add. It only gets in the way. There is compelling evidence that when the conscious mind takes over motor skills, things go to hell.<ref>This is the premise of {{author|Daniel Kahneman}}’s {{br|Thinking, Fast and Slow}}, and for that matter, [[Matthew Syed]]’s {{br|Bounce}}.</ref> | ||
But leave interpersonal relationships, communication, perception, [[construction]], decision-making in times of uncertainty, imagination and creation to the mind. ''Leave the machines out of this''. They will only bugger it up. Let them ''report'', by all means. Let them assist: triage the “conscious act” to hive off the mechanical tasks on which it depends.<ref>{{Author|Julian Jaynes}} has a magnificent passage in his book {{br|The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind}} where he steps through all the aspects of consciousness that we assume are conscious, but which are not. | But leave interpersonal relationships, communication, perception, [[construction]], decision-making in times of uncertainty, imagination and creation to the mind. ''Leave the machines out of this''. They will only bugger it up. Let them ''report'', by all means. Let them assist: triage the “conscious act” to hive off the mechanical tasks on which it depends.<ref>{{Author|Julian Jaynes}} has a magnificent passage in his book {{br|The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind}} where he steps through all the aspects of consciousness that we assume are conscious, but which are not. | ||