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_______________THE BREAKDOWN OF CONSCIOUSNESS BY PAIGE ARTHUR (11/20/98)
	Faster than a speeding bullet, Paige Arthur jumps from the assertion that Koko and now "Kanzi the Ape" actually use language (and language use is not to be confused with "symbol-using skills") to reconsidering the "standard for determining what thinking, logic and consciousness are." Need I point out that the only standard humans can ever use for making that determination is a human one. We may recognize new paradigms for thinking, logic and consciousness, but those will be recognizable only in relation to our understanding of human consciousness. We simply can't understand something, if such a thing exists, that is truly outside of human experience. It is a fundamental that goes back to the ancient Greeks, and neither artificial intelligence nor "signing" apes changes it. "Signing" apes, by the way, is a misnomer. Despite the notoriety Koko continues to enjoy, she is the "Clever Hans" of the 20th century. Only her handlers have been able to interpret her gestures. "Speakers" of ASL (the language Koko was "taught") say her gestures are gibberish; Koko doesn't make words, Koko doesn't make sentences, Koko doesn't use language in any recognizable way. As for "Kanzi the Ape," this is a new one on me. But symbols ("Kanzi" is described as using symbols apparently to "communicate") are notoriously subject to manipulation and interpretation. Arguing what the definition of "is" is is a patently silly game; arguing what a symbol "means" has kept English professors employed for decades. The communication test here is a simple one: If someone like my 6-year-old daughter, who uses language quite well, can't understand "Kanzi's" symbol usage, then Kanzi's communication is solely in the eye of the beholder. The argument about AI has the same problem. Until we have a definition of intelligence that is not limited to mathematical ability or scientific reasoning (perfectly fine endeavors, but hardly the be all and end all of human existence), we cannot identify AI in machines or in animals. At this point, we have trouble identifying it in each other. -- Robert M. Jeffers SALON | Dec. 1, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| DICTATOR OF CHOICE BY DAVID HOROWITZ

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