ABSTRACT
Many people believe in the possibility of artificial intelligence: they think it is possible to produce intelligence just by programming a computer in the right way. Artificial intelligence might only be possible in a sort of robot. 'Artificial intelligence' normally means electronic intelligence, not biological intelligence created artificially, as with Dr Frankenstein's monster. It is usually assumed that in order to know whether artificial intelligence is possible, the author need only think about the nature of mental phenomena in themselves. An artificially intelligent being would have to have some nature or other. In order to assess the possibility of artificial intelligence, then, they need to know something about the nature of thought and consciousness in themselves, but also something about the nature of thinking, conscious beings. Friends of artificial intelligence who believe that artificial thinkers would be material things will need a solution to this problem.
