In the modern day, computer technology is advancing faster and becoming more efficient with each passing day, and especially in the development of artificial intelligence. When the development of artificial intelligence reaches a milestone in which artificial intelligence of robotics rivals natural intelligence of humans, a question arises that will test the philosophical theory of existentialism. What does it mean to be human?
This question is commonly asked in modern and classic science fiction cinema and literature. Great examples would be the 1984 film Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Each author has had a concern and excitement for scientific advancement, but each understood that the lines between creation and creator would begin to blur. If emotions are composed of complex chemical reactions in the brain, then how can this process not be eventually imitated by computers? When artificial intelligence reaches the milestone of autonomy will the human race fear the creation like Victor Frankenstein feared the sapient creature, or coexist as creator and creation? If a machine with artificial intelligence is successfully given the ability to think, then does it stand to reason that Rene Descartes’s “I think, therefore I am” applies to the machine as well? This essay is not an answer to the question but put simply, a viewpoint among many on how a question can be both unnerving and inspiring because the question proves how far humans have come from the stone age.
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What was the full question/prompt given to you, and how many words were you asked to write?