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by FrustratedMonky 985 days ago
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim." – Edsger W. Dijkstra

I often see this quote used seemingly as an argument against AI.

But it's just playing with words.

Yeah, lets say that what a submarine does is 'swimming', it beats the hell out of a human swimming.

So how is that a comfort?

2 comments

I think you can interpret the quote several ways thats Why i like it so much. I mostly understand it as the "swimming" of a submarine is a different thing than the swimming of a human so its moot to compare it. But your interpretation is also valid I think.
The question is not whether it's comforting but whether it's interesting?