GENEDU 1301 · The Imitation Game: What Machines Can and Cannot Think

Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

Can machines think? Turing replaced the question with a better one — and we still cannot answer either.

1. Module 1

   The Turing Machine and Computation

   Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

   The question

   A Turing Machine follows rules — nothing else. Every modern computer is an implementation of this 1936 abstraction. Can rule-following ever constitute thinking? Are there human cognitive processes that are NOT rule-following?

   Outcome

   The student can explain the Turing Machine and evaluate whether rule-following can constitute thinking.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 1.1 What Is Computation? Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 1.2 Rules and Thinking Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Begin the course → Print certificate of completion
2. Module 2

   The Imitation Game

   Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

   The question

   Turing proposed a behavioural test — not a philosophical criterion. If a machine can fool a human interrogator, we should treat it as intelligent by the only criterion that can be tested. Is this a solution to the question, or an evasion of it?

   Outcome

   The student can describe the imitation game accurately and evaluate two of Turing's nine objections.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 2.1 The Game Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 2.2 Two Objections Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion
3. Module 3

   The Chinese Room

   Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

   The question

   Searle locked himself in a room with a Chinese rulebook. Chinese goes in, Chinese comes out. The room appears to understand. Searle understands nothing. Does this prove that formal symbol-manipulation cannot produce understanding — or is the room, as a system, actually understanding?

   Outcome

   The student can explain the Chinese Room and evaluate whether the systems reply succeeds.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 3.1 The Room Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 3.2 Essay: Syntax and Semantics Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion
4. Module 4

   The Child Machine

   Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

   The question

   Turing proposed building a child machine and educating it rather than programming an adult mind. Modern LLMs are trained on human text — they learn patterns rather than follow rules. Has Turing's approach been vindicated — and does pattern-learning constitute intelligence?

   Outcome

   The student can explain how modern AI relates to Turing's child machine proposal.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 4.1 How LLMs Work Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion
5. Module 5

   Can Machines Think? The Current State

   Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum

   The question

   How would you prove to someone who doubted it that you are conscious? Now apply the same standard to a machine. What follows? And does the answer matter — practically, ethically, philosophically?

   Outcome

   The student can articulate the hard problem of consciousness and take a defended position on whether the question matters.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 5.1 The Verification Problem Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 5.2 Final Essay: Does It Matter? Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion