Andy Masley Part 2: why computer programs can in principle think and understand
AndyMasley · x · 2026-10-09
Andy Masley published Part 2 of his three-part series arguing that current AI models can really think and understand, assembling classic functionalist arguments that computer programs can in principle do anything the brain does.
Structure of the argument:
- Part 1 established that thinking and understanding don't require first-person phenomenal consciousness, and the required information processing isn't tied to human minds
- Premise 1: thinking and understanding are things physical systems do; no extra nonphysical ingredient
- Premise 2: what makes a physical system think is how it processes information, not what it's made of
- Explicitly not claimed here: that current models already think (Part 3), that the brain is a computer, or that AI is conscious
The strategy is to first defend the contested claim that programs can in principle think, then apply it to specific AI models next.
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