Coel has a recent post
about Searle’s “Chinese Room” argument. My response is a bit long for a comment, so I’ll respond here.
Understanding
Here’s how Coel frames the issue:
You’ve just bought the latest in personal-assistant robots. You say to it: “Please put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, then hoover the lounge, and then take the dog for a walk”. The robot is equipped with a microphone, speech-recognition software, and extensive programming on how to do tasks. It responds to your speech by doing exactly as requested, and ends up taking hold of the dog’s leash and setting off out of the house. All of this is well within current technological capability.
Did the robot understand the instructions?
My answer would be “obviously not.” So, according to Coel, that makes me a Searlite. If I had agreed that the robot understood, then he would say that I’m a Dennettite.
The Heretical Philosopher 