Can computers think? In the late 1980s, contrasting answers to that question come from John Searle and Herbert Simon. In the first segment, Searle considers the philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence.
In the second segment [15:15], Simon, who coauthored Scientific Discovery: Computational Explorations of the Creative Processes, discusses the similarities between human and artificial intelligence.
At the time of these interviews, Searle, a trustee of the National Humanities Center, was professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.
Simon, a winner of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the National Medal of Science, was professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
