I think emotions are fundamental to thought. That's my opinion, but I don't think we know enough to say that. My example is the robot that is a vacuum cleaner, but regrets it never was a self-driving car. That would be a human experience. We can program a computer to be rewarded by ice cream. Could it ever get to the point where it felt guilty about that or uneasy about it?
Computer Scientist and author Melanie Mitchell of Portland State University and the Santa Fe Institute talks about her book Artificial Intelligence with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Mitchell explains where we are today in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and where we might be going. Despite the hype and excitement surrounding AI, Mitchell argues that much of what is called "learning" and "intelligence" when done by machines is not analogous to human capabilities. The capabilities of machines are highly limited to explicit, narrow tasks with little transfer to similar but different challenges. Along the way, Mitchell explains some of the techniques used in AI and how progress has been made in many areas.