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Machine wanting.

Daniel W McShea¹

¹Dept. of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708-0338, USA.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

|June 25, 2013

Summary

Pure logic cannot create wants or goals, meaning machines won't be truly goal-directed. Simulating human behavior requires understanding physical goal-directed systems, potentially needing new hardware for true motivation.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Neuroscience
Artificial Intelligence

Background:

Wants, preferences, and cares are physical, not abstract, precluding purely logical derivation.
Pure logic machines lack intrinsic motivation and goal-directed behavior.
Simulating human-like interactions necessitates understanding the physical basis of goal-directed systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a physical model for goal-directed systems.
To explore the implications for simulating human-like motivation in machines.
To investigate the necessity of physical containment for goal-directedness.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of goal-directed systems.
Argumentation based on the physical nature of wants and preferences.

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence Emotion Goal-directedness Purpose Robot Teleology

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Theoretical modeling of nested structures in goal-directed systems.

Main Results:

Goal-directed systems possess a nested structure: a contained entity within a driving field.
This structure allows for both directed movement and independent deviation, characteristic of goal pursuit.
Human want-driven behavior likely involves a mechanism within a neural field.

Conclusions:

Standard computational systems might simulate goal-directedness via virtual containment.
Physical containment may offer superior performance for goal-directed systems.
New hardware may be required to achieve true physical containment and robust goal-directed behavior.