Can machines think?  Well, maybe.  We don’t really know enough about how our own thought processes work to accurately determine whether or not a machine can think.  Sure we can design a machine that emulates the physical actions associated with human thought, but Searle would argue that this is no better than simply creating a human.  There is nothing really artificial about this intellignece.  It is sort of a chicken and egg situation:  we want to use AI to help us better understand how our own thought process works, but we can’t construct strong AI without something to base it on.  I guess I kind of agree with Searle’s assertion that strong AI is impossible without modelling the physical activity of the brain.  On the other hand, I don’t necessarily agree that strong AI is the only way a computer can be considered to be thinking.  If we can build a machine that can pass the turing test 100% of the time, then for all intents and purposes, it must be considered to be thinking.  Since I have no real definitive proof that anyone else in this world is actually thinking (and I don’t think anyone else has proof either), I don’t think its fair to hold machines to higher standards than we hold ourselves.  So… machines can think as long as we don’t really know what it means to think.