The Natural Language Dilemma

For quite a while in the field of technology, language has been a curious issue (Winograd 1972; Weizenbaum 1976; Nilsson 2009). Most recently, questions have been raised about the linguistic capabilities of AI, particularly natural language models (NLMs). For example, can these models really speak and understand? Do they have human linguistic abilities? Fundamental to these issues is whether meaning is involved. Critics are skeptical that these models can exhibit intention and respond to meaning in a manner similar to humans (Bender and Koller 2020). Simply put, can machines articulate thought (McCorduck 2004)?