Could one train an animal* to operate a turing machine via reinforcement mechanisms? Would there be any use for such a thing? (Other than being able to say you have an organic computer...).
*Obviously you can train humans, and I guess likely great apes as well. But what would be the lower bound on intelligence? A rat? An insect?
What exactly do you mean by “operate a turing machine.”
If you have a simple enough machine and translation of symbols on the tape to stimuli for the animal, it seems easy (in principle) to use classical and operant conditioning on a rat to push the appropriate buttons to change the machine’s states.
Could one train an animal* to operate a turing machine via reinforcement mechanisms? Would there be any use for such a thing? (Other than being able to say you have an organic computer...).
*Obviously you can train humans, and I guess likely great apes as well. But what would be the lower bound on intelligence? A rat? An insect?
What exactly do you mean by “operate a turing machine.”
If you have a simple enough machine and translation of symbols on the tape to stimuli for the animal, it seems easy (in principle) to use classical and operant conditioning on a rat to push the appropriate buttons to change the machine’s states.