Tim Crane is a world leading philosopher whose areas of research gravitate towards the study of the mind. His book, The Mechanical Mind, has introduced thousands of people to the central ideas which unite Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science. He is currently the Head of Department at the Central European University, having previously been the Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.

Conversation outline:

00:00 The problem of mental representation
10:38 Can a computer think? Is the Turing Test satisfactory?
14:15 Can a robot think?
18:32 What is the Computational Theory of Mind?
20:20 The Language of Thought Hypothesis
26:33 Do neural networks implement our language of thought?
31:32 Can deep neural networks achieve a complexity which brings about awareness or AGI?
33:03 What is general intelligence?
34:29 Are there necessary conditions for intelligence?
38:00 What is the mechanical view of the human mind?
42:35 Consciousness
46:32 Can we have free will on the mechanical picture?
50:58 Can God account for the explanatory gap between science and consciousness?
54:40 Comments on aspects of religion

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