Can AI Think - and Should It? What It Means To Think, From Plato To ChatGPT

Ancient Greek philosophers, despite lacking modern technology, offer valuable insights into AI's capabilities. Plato's hierarchy of understanding, ranging from intuitive "noesis" to baseless "eikasia," highlights the limitations of AI's purely computational approach. His emphasis on embodied knowledge suggests AI's potential inability to truly "think" or "understand" like humans. Aristotle further distinguishes between active and passive intellect, linking "thinking" to embodied experience. Aristotle's concept of "nous," immaterial active intellect, contrasts with AI's reliance on data processing. His exploration of rhetoric emphasizes the importance of embodied experience, emotion, and persuasion, aspects seemingly absent in AI. The concept of "phronesis," practical wisdom, underscores the need for moral insight and lived experience, beyond AI's data analysis. AI's "hallucinations," resembling Plato's "eikasia," expose limitations in its comprehension. Therefore, while AI might process information, it lacks the embodied essence of human intellect and moral judgment. These ancient philosophical perspectives provide a crucial framework for evaluating AI's true potential and limitations.