What if Alan Turing, Masahiro Mori, and John Searle employed a humanoid robot in a Gedankenexperiment?

Abstract

Critical constructionist theory employs three interconnected dimensions (real, symbolic and imaginary) to clarify the emergence of social constructions. The use of humanoid robots in scientific experiments is affected by these dimensions. By considering this perspective, we explore the arguments of Turing, Searle, and Mori to develop a new thought experiment. The humanoid robot acts hereby as a platform for the interaction of the imaginary, the symbolic an the real. The functioning of the technological context strongly intertwines with its “interior” and “exterior”. Consequently, it is not scientifically valid to label individual technologies (without context) as superior or inferior.