A.I response

After watching the movie A.I, one can have a better understanding between robots and humans. David, who was a robot created to act, feel, and share as many emotions as humans do, is probably the most significant factor in understanding the debate between Searle and Dennett. Throughout the movie, if one did not know any better, they would think that David is a real boy. He is a mecha robot that is programmed to love and act the same as a normal boy would, however, he cannot fulfill all the same actions as a "real" boy could. He almost dies or is destroyed when he tries to eat the spinach, he does not age, and he cannot drink. Throughout the movie we can see how "realness" plays a major role. It seems to the audience that David is quite "real" experiencing emotions such as love and jealousy. This would be against Searle's argument because no non-biological things can have a conscious and pro Dennett's argument. I believe this movie shows a lot of evidence towards Dennett's argument, for example, when David attempts to commit suicide. I highly doubt that a "supercomputer" mecha robot was programmed to attempt a suicide and this alone shows that he had a conscious decision of choosing life vs death. David might not know why he feels a certain way but not all human beings do either. I know from personal experience that I do not know why I feel a certain way sometimes. One might relate this to a “gut” or so feeling. In either case there is no factual evidence, however, I feel as if there is more of a chance that technology is advanced and creates a conscious non-biological thing rather than us humans finding the “right” matter.