DISCUSSION 
the analysis of the brain—is to look for the generalizations that 
permit a humanly useful description of the brain structure. 
But even this capability is even more than we need. The 
validation of human thought is the end result of the processing 
of the data. The computer that emulates the brain might per- 
form the task as well or better with functional elements and 
pathways quite different in detail, still performing the com- 
parable logical procedures. 
Klein: We are carrying out an experiment in some univer- 
sities of France in which we are trying to replace the examina- 
tion board by mechanographic examinations. The machine 
will not relieve us of all our examination duties, but it may test 
students who pursue studies in medical schools. We can 
observe our own reactions as examiners to the process and the 
reaction of the students also, but we are faced with this question 
which we have just been discussing, namely, can a machine 
possess judgment ? 
In order to programme sucha machine successfully, we have 
to work for days to find suitable questions for the mechano- 
graphic examination, but unfortunately these questions age 
very rapidly because we have to keep pace with the advance 
of medical science. This applies also to diagnostic machines. 
There are highly emotional reactions to these machines from 
both the examination board and from the students. For half 
the students the machine is objective; they don’t perhaps 
realize that we have put the questions into an examination 
pool. The other half have doubtful feelings about this new 
type of examination. Our teaching is, of course, adapted to the 
questions which we intend to put into the pool, and conversely. 
The board, too, are mostly but by no means all convinced that 
the machine is more objective than an examiner could 
be. Other people object that you cannot obtain this special 
thing called “judgment’’ from a machine. The whole experi- 
ment is a preliminary one; it exemplifies the question we 
have been discussing, but I think it will take at least ten 
years to be completed, before we can know if it is workable or 
not. 
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