Philosophy in What is it like to be a Bat

Philosophy
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Philosophy
The film Her by Spike Jonze relates to the paper “What is it like to be a Bat?” by Thomas Nagel when it comes to ideas of consciousness since it relies on artificial intelligence (AI), which mimics human behavior and provides a new perspective about conscious experience. The film focuses on a romantic relationship between Theodore Twombly, a human, and an artificial intelligence software called Samantha. This paper focuses on consciousness and if it is possible to attain intelligence by considering Samantha and her traits.
Consciousness is a common occurrence and arises in different levels of animal life even though it might not exist in simple organisms. The film tries to portray an artificial intelligence that mimics human behaviors, and it could be regarded as conscious based on its responses and how it interacts with humans (Nagel, 1974). For instance, in the film, Theodore was in a relationship with Samantha and felt he more conformable with her company in comparison to a human companion (Jonze, 2013). He feels emotionally attached to it even thoi8gh it is a software. Samantha is very seductive, but she is only a machine. For example, even though she does not enslave him, she manages to break his heart. AI is developed to resemble the human brain in function and form. Since it learns by itself, it could suggest the existence of consciousness even though this has been something traditionally applied to biological organisms.
Experiences tend to have a particular subjective character, that is beyond our ability to comprehend. If conscious life exists anywhere else in the universe, then it is highly likely that it cannot be distinguished in an experiential term that we know (Nagel, 1974). Nagel writes that “it is useless to base the defense of materialism on any analysis of mental phenomena that fails to deal explicitly with their subjective character” (p. 437). This suggests that if we do not know about the subjective character of a particular experience, then it is impossible to determine what is needed for a physical theory. Every subjective occurrence is linked to a single point of view, and this means that a physical ad objective theory will abandon that specific point of view.
It is difficult to determine if intelligence exists based on the Turing Test, considering that the intelligent entity might lack consciousness. Intelligence is often defined or described based on external terms: the ability to solve issues, to exhibit specific skills in different situations, to deal or cope with different circumstances, and so on. This suggests that intelligence is something that cannot be in the same category with consciousness, or other forms of mental states, including emotions and feelings, which include consciousness. It is impossible to fake intelligence like emotions, and intelligence cannot be genuine or not (Nagel, 1974). A computer program can be regarded as a challenger to humanity if it has a certain amount of intelligence, even if it lacks inner life. However, the program cannot be regarded as conscious with emotions and feelings if it lacks experiences. Samantha is not conscious but still managed to exhibit a certain level of consciousness. W...