The Chinese Room: Why Your Computer Will Never Truly Be Alive

By: John Guidry

FYI: This post has nothing to do with criminal defense. But, you see, I really, really like science. And so, I’m going to share with you some thoughts about a great book from Roger Penrose called The Emperor’s New Mind.

The question the book poses is simple: Can computers ever emulate conscious human thinking? Will machines ever be able to “think” in a “conscious” way?

The Verdict: Penrose says No. The current state of physics only allows artificial intelligence to mimic everything the human mind can “do” (computers play great chess, right?), but it will never be conscious of what it is actually doing.

Are you trusting a machine to decide your fate?

Algorithms don’t have a conscience. Call John today at (407) 423-1117.

The Thought Experiment: The Chinese Room

The best way to understand this is a famous thought experiment called the “Chinese Room” (originally proposed by philosopher John Searle).

The Setup: Imagine that you and I are placed in a sealed room. The walls are covered in Chinese symbols.

• The Catch: Neither you nor I speak Chinese. To us, they are just meaningless squiggles.

The Task: A person outside the room slips a piece of paper through a slot. It contains a question written in Chinese symbols.

• We have a rulebook (the “Program”) that tells us: “If you see Squiggle A, match it with Squiggle B.”
• We follow the instructions perfectly. We find the matching symbols on the wall, write them down, and push the paper back out the slot.

The Illusion: To the Chinese person outside, it looks like we understood the question and answered it perfectly.

• The Reality: We had NO IDEA what we were doing. We were just good little symbol-matchers. We manipulated the data without ever understanding the meaning.

The “Zombie” Computer

This is exactly how computers work. No matter how complex these machines get—whether it’s a calculator or a supercomputer—they are merely spitting out symbols they don’t truly comprehend.

• Doing vs. Knowing: A computer can beat a Grandmaster at chess, but it doesn’t know it’s playing a game. It doesn’t feel the thrill of victory or the sting of defeat. It is just running math.
• The Conclusion: Penrose argues that consciousness is something different—something non-computational—that machines simply cannot replicate.

And there you have it. 640 pages of Penrose boiled down to a few words.

John’s 2026 Update: The Hallucinating AI Lawyer

Note: In 1989, Penrose wrote about chess computers. In 2026, we are dealing with Generative AI (LLMs) that can pass the Bar Exam.

1. The “Hallucination” Problem In 2026, we see AI tools (like ChatGPT or Gemini) writing legal briefs. Sometimes, they cite cases that don’t exist.

• The Connection: This proves the “Chinese Room” theory. The AI is predicting which words sound like a legal citation (matching symbols), but it doesn’t understand that a case must be real to be valid. It is lying without knowing it is lying, because it doesn’t understand the concept of “truth”—only probability.

2. The AI Sentencing Algorithm Courts now use AI to determine “risk scores” for sentencing.

• The Chinese Room in Court: The algorithm sees “3 prior arrests” and “unemployed” and outputs “High Risk.”
• The Missing Piece: It cannot understand context. It doesn’t know you were unemployed because you were caring for a dying parent. It just matches symbols. This is why a human lawyer is essential—to provide the meaning behind the data.

3. “Deepfake” Intent We now defend clients accused of crimes they committed in the Metaverse or via AI avatars.

• The Defense: If an AI agent commits a digital crime on your behalf, did you have the criminal intent (Mens Rea)? Or was the AI just “matching symbols” in a way you didn’t predict? We use Penrose’s argument to show that the machine’s actions cannot always be attributed to the human’s conscious mind.

Don’t Let a Calculator Judge You

Science is fun, but in the courtroom, you need a human being who understands empathy, nuance, and truth. A machine can process the law, but only a human can understand Justice.

Call me at (407) 423-1117. Let’s put a human on your case.

About John Guidry II

John Guidry II is a seasoned criminal defense attorney and founder of the Law Firm of John P. Guidry II, P.A., located in downtown Orlando next to the Orange County Courthouse, where he has practiced for over 30 years. With more than three decades of experience defending clients throughout Central Florida since 1993, Guidry has successfully defended thousands of cases in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Lake, and Volusia counties. He has built a reputation for his strategic approach to criminal defense, focusing on pretrial motions and case dismissals rather than jury trials.

Guidry earned both his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University in 1993. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of Florida state criminal charges, with a particular emphasis on achieving favorable outcomes through thorough pretrial preparation and motion practice.

Beyond the courtroom, Guidry is a prolific legal educator who has authored over 400 articles on criminal defense topics. He shares his legal expertise through his popular YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok accounts, where he has built a substantial following of people eager to learn about the law. His educational content breaks down complex legal concepts into accessible information for the general public.

When not practicing law, Guidry enjoys tennis and pickleball, and loves to travel. Drawing from his background as a former recording studio owner and music video producer in the Orlando area, he brings a creative perspective to his legal practice and continues to apply his passion for video production to his educational content.