Chinese-room
/ˌtʃaɪ.niːz ˈruːm/ IELTSAcademic
noun
A thought experiment about artificial intelligence. It shows that a system can use symbols correctly without truly understanding their meaning.
- The Chinese-room argues that syntax is not the same as understanding.
- She mentioned the Chinese-room in her AI seminar.
- The example challenges strong claims about machine minds.
Adinary Nuance
The Chinese-room is not just another term for artificial intelligence or machine learning. It is a critical argument about whether correct output means real understanding. Writers use it when they want to question strong claims about AI, not simply describe AI systems.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- phòng tiếng Trung
- Spanish
- cuarto chino
- Chinese
- 中文房间
- Japanese
- 中国語の部屋
- Korean
- 중국어 방
Etymology
The term comes from philosopher John Searle's 1980 thought experiment. He described a person in a room following rules to answer Chinese text without knowing Chinese.
Common phrases
the Chinese-room argumentChinese-room scenariothe Chinese-room example
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is Chinese-room a common word in everyday English?
- No. It is mainly used in philosophy, AI, and academic writing.
- What is the Chinese-room argument about?
- It asks whether a machine can seem intelligent without truly understanding language.
- Is Chinese-room the same as artificial intelligence?
- No. It is an argument used to discuss AI, not a type of AI itself.
- How do I use Chinese-room in a sentence?
- Use it as a noun phrase: "The Chinese-room challenges simple AI claims."