# The Mind–Machine Question

Can a machine think, understand, or be conscious? This sub-article expands [Section 1.1 of Philosophy](../philosophy.md).

## The Turing Test (1950)
- A behavioral criterion: a machine is intelligent if its conversation is indistinguishable from a human's.
- Critiques: it tests behavior, not understanding or experience.

## The Chinese Room (Searle, 1980)
- A system that manipulates symbols by rules may simulate intelligence without understanding.
- Argument: syntax alone does not yield semantics.

## Functionalism
- Mental states are defined by causal roles, not substrate.
- A properly organized silicon system could, in principle, be a mind.

## The Hard Problem of Consciousness
- David Chalmers distinguishes easy problems (function) from the hard problem (subjective experience).
- Does a computer have qualia? Unresolved.

## Why It Matters
The answer shapes whether AI is "just a tool" or a moral subject, and guides expectations about AGI.

## Sources
- Turing, A. M. (1950). *Computing Machinery and Intelligence.*
- Searle, J. (1980). *Minds, Brains, and Programs.*
- Chalmers, D. (1995). *Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness.*

*Back to [Philosophy](../philosophy.md).*