The idea of machines as capable of thinking like humans is as old as human imagination itself. René Descartes mused about “thinking machines,” but argued that such machines could never genuinely “think” nor possess genuine understanding. In the 1950s, his musings began to take concrete form, as computer scientists such as Alan Turing and John McCarthy laid the foundations of artificial intelligence (AI). Today, AI—an umbrella term for a loose set of technologies—represents genuine and remarkable technological progress. Amidst palpable excitement over the pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—a type of AI that could rival or even surpass human intelligence—Descartes’s distinction between mechanical imitation and human cognition remains profoundly relevant.   Descartes on Thinking Machines A portrait of René Descartes, 1700-1899. Source: The Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands   The 17th century witnessed the invention of multiple automated machines, from Jacques de Vaucanson’s mechanical “Digesting Duck” to Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mechanical Knight”—a humanoid robot that utilized a complex system of pulleys to mimic human motions. In this context, René Descartes speculated about the implications …