Derek Zdravkovic Research Topic Proposal Topic: Is strong A.I. truly possible?

Can a computer really be as conscious and sentient as a human? Reasoning and Ideas: Strong A.I., that is artificial intelligence comparable to a humans intelligence, has been speculated about even before digital computers were invented. In todays world computers are becoming increasingly advanced and our day to day interaction with them is on the rise. Being someone who has grown up in a generation fully acclimated to computers I naturally am very interested in them. Seeing computers become more advanced in such a short period of time has also made me wonder about the possibilities for the future. I am very curious if an A.I. can be created and if it could be made more intelligent than any human. College students my age also will share the same sentiments because most of them have also experienced the incredible pace that computers have advanced during their lifetimes. Authorship: I have always had fascination with computers. I started playing video games at an early age and was amazed at how artificial opponents could respond to my actions in intelligent ways. When I was older I took up and interest in programming and have been well versed in how computers work ever since. I have also been very interested in psychology, consciousness, logic, and free will throughout my life. Even my experience physics will aid me when writing about this topic because the science of A.I. combines it with many of my other interests as well. For example, a leading physicist (Roger Penrose), has postulated that our brains and consciousness itself is based off of a quantum wave function. Wave functions are non-algorithmic and based off probability which would suggest that A.I. is impossible. Some leading theorems in mathematics called Gdel's incompleteness theorems also seem to corroborate this by showing that pure math can never fully describe anything. There are, however, ways to simulate randomness and with the advent of powerful quantum computers there is a high possibility of a strong A.I. being developed. My knowledge in quantum physics, logic, programming, and how the human brain works will all allow me to present what is currently known about A.I. and the possibilities for the future to a general audience. Bibliography: 1. Penrose, Roger. 1999. The Emperors New Mind. New York: Penguin Books. 480 pages.

This book contains the core of the information that will be in my paper. It is fairly old but still renowned as a breakthrough work on consciousness and the possibilities of A.I. It also contains much valuable information on the quantum physics aspect of conciousness.

2. Sgarbas ,Kyriakos N. [Updated 2007 May 23]. The Road to Quantum Artificial Intelligence [Internet]. Available from: http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0705/0705.3360.pdf. [Accessed 2008 Feb 28]. This article is fairly recent and contains exactly what is needed to show that A.I. is feasible. The article contains most recent developments in quantum computing and builds upon the ideas presented by Roger Penrose that a thinking beings consciousness would need to be determined by a waveform collapse. With quantum computers this is now possible. Also it tells about how quantum computers astronomically more processing power than electrical computers which further could facilitate A.I. development.

3. Mooney, Raymond J. Artificial intelligence. World Book Online Reference Center. Available from: http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar032470. [Accessed 2008 Feb 28].

4. Dauben, Joseph W. "Mathematics." World Book Online Reference Center. Available from: http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar348960. [Accessed 2008 Feb 28].

5. Swade, Doron D. "Turing, Alan Mathison." World Book Online Reference Center. Available from: http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar570830. [Accessed 2008 Feb 28]. Multimedia: I will probably create a website for this project using various tools such as NVU and my own coding abilities. I have a web host so hosting should not be an issue. On my website I think I will integrate technology to make it interactive and accessible such as pop up JavaScript windows for images and articles. I will possibly add some RSS feeds as well. I am considering adding some type of interactive activity either on the website through Flash and Java or programmed in DarkBASIC Professional, which is a programming language for making interactive 3D games. Some possibilities for

the interactive activity are a game with learning A.I. or some type of conversation with a learning A.I.