The power of thought

What is intelligence? What does it mean to be conscious? What is a mind and is it something more than the body it is in? These are all questions of Philosophy. They have also been of interest to computer scientists. Whilst a philosopher attacks them using rational argument, a computer scientist tries to build them. Can we build an intelligent machine? Could a machine posses consciousness or is it a property of living beings only? Could we create a robot, a mere lump of silicon, metal and plastic, that actually was alive?

The philosophers help the scientists and engineers think more clearly about the problems they are tackling, but at the same time the more the computer scientists build the more the philosophers have to think about. Out of it all, one day something astounding might just come into being...