Computers will never be able to converse intelligently through speech. A simple example proves that this is so?

Question

Computers will never be able to converse intelligently through speech. A simple example proves that this is so. The sentences “How do you recognize speech?” and “How do you wreck a nice beach?” sound just the same when they are spoken, but they mean something different. A computer could not distinguish the two.

Argument or not an argument?

Answer 1

Says who? It's silly to make absolute statements about a growing technology...we don't know how far AI could go.

Answer 2

"How do you recognize speech? How do you wreck a nice beach?”



An intelligent person might also easily confuse those two questions. That's called a misunderstanding. If we could get the computer to say "Did you say "speech" or "beach" or "-'s peach"? or respond with humor when the mistake was pointed out to it, or just say "Doh!" that would be a win for AI!



The key to understanding the speech of others correctly (and I take it you are proposing that to be a characteristic of human intelligence...not so sure, I guess I'll go along) is to decode meaning in CONTEXT. And this is exactly what they are working on getting AI programs to do: Use lots of memory to build up knowledge base, so they can discern context by relating words: "Sand...beach...nice / Speech recognize...meaning..." So, depending on whether the conversation was to do with communication or the environmental health of coastal regions, the human or the AI should both be able to determine the intended meaning of that group of sounds.



In human speech it is very common for two people to simply be unable to talk about a host of things if they do not share the technical terminology. So, a key to an AI that would win the Turing Test would be knowing when to say: "Sorry, I don't understand that." That's easy enough. So I don't agree with the argument.

Answer 3

Never say "never". Artificial intelligence is developing all the time and it is perfectly reasonable to think that sooner or later computers will be able to recognise context in the same way that the human brain can.

Answer 4

and:

the horseless carriage was just a fad



if man was supposed to fly he would have been born with wings



You can't talk with someone thousands of miles away,



computers need to take up entire rooms



going to the moon or into space was impossible