Can AI truly think? Exploring AI through Greek philosophy
Ryan Leack, an assistant professor of writing at the University of Southern California, suggests exploring whether AI can truly think by turning to the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports, citing The Conversation.
Leack notes that his students find it easy to evaluate AI's intellectual abilities, such as processing, analyzing, and conveying information. However, when it comes to actual thinking, many struggle to give a clear answer. Although "intelligence" and "thinking" are often treated as synonyms, philosophers have seen significant differences between the two for thousands of years.
Plato’s hierarchy of knowledge
In his dialogue "Republic," Plato presented the "divided line" model, which separates higher and lower forms of understanding. At the top is noesis, an intuitive grasp of truth that goes beyond reason, belief, or sensory perception. Plato saw this as a property of the soul.
Below it lies dianoia, reasoning based on argument and logic. Beneath the dividing line are pistis, belief based on experience, and eikasia, imagination or opinion shaped by false impressions.
According to this framework, without a physical embodiment, AI cannot think or understand in the way humans do. Moreover, AI’s frequent “hallucinations,” when it generates plausible but inaccurate information, resemble eikasia – the lowest form of understanding in Plato’s hierarchy.
Aristotle’s division of intellect
Plato’s student Aristotle, in his work "On the Soul," distinguished between active and passive intellect. The active intellect, or nous, is immaterial and creates meaning from experience, going beyond bodily perception. The passive intellect is tied to the body and receives sensory impressions without engaging in reasoning.
Aristotle’s views on rhetoric also suggest that decision-making requires the body, senses, and lived experience. For him, rhetoric was more than persuasion; it involved observing how facts, emotions, and character shape human thought. It is doubtful that AI uses rhetoric in this way.
Another key Aristotelian concept is phronesis, or practical wisdom. In the "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle defines phronesis as life experience that guides not just correct thinking but the ability to apply thoughts toward virtuous goals. While AI can analyze vast amounts of data, phronesis goes beyond information, encompassing wisdom and moral understanding.
AI’s own answer
Today, artificial intelligence takes many physical forms, from self-driving vehicles to healthcare robots. If, as ancient philosophers believed, intelligence requires embodiment, it might seem that AI is getting closer to human thinking.
However, these forms are not true bodies but systems built on code, algorithms, and data. Intuitive understanding, emotions, and practical wisdom appear to require an embodied form shaped by lived experience.
When asked about its ability to think, ChatGPT responded:
“I can process information, analyze patterns, and generate responses based on data. So in some ways, it might ‘seem’ like I’m thinking. But it’s not thinking like a human does. I don’t have consciousness, emotions, intentions, or awareness. Everything I ‘do’ is based on patterns learned from huge amounts of text and a set of rules and probabilities. I can ‘simulate’ certain aspects of thinking, but I don’t truly think or understand in the human sense.”
This answer aligns with the views of Plato and Aristotle – at least for now.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that AI chatbots can mimic empathy.
