Computers and Self-Consciousness

In connection with my previous post on I, Robot, I found this quote by David Gelertner, professor of computer science at Yale in Ravi Zacharias's book Cries of the Heart. This statement was made back when the Russian chess nerd Gary Kasparov lost to a computer Deep Blue. Gelertner writes,

"The idea that Deep Blue has a mind in absurd. How can an object that wants nothing, fears nothing, enjoys nothing, needs nothing and cares about nothing have a mind? It can win at chess, but not because it wants to. It isn't happy when it wins or sad when it loses. What are its apres-match plans if it beats Kasparov? Is it hoping to take Deep Pink out for a night on the town? It doesn't care about chess or anything else. It plays the game for the same reason a calculator adds or a toaster toasts: because it is a machine designed for that purpose....No matter what amazing feats they perform, inside they will always be the same absolute zero....No computer can achieve artificial thougth without achieving artificial emotion too.

"In the long run I doubt if there is any kind of human behavior computers can't fake, any kind of performance they can't put on. It is conceivable that one day computers will be better than humans at nearly everything. I can imagine that a person might someday have a computer for a best friend. That will be sad--like having a dog for your best friend but even sadder...the gap between the human and the surrogate is permanent and will never be closed. Machines will continue to make life easier, healthier, richer, and more puzzling. And human beings will continue to care, ultimately, about the same things they always have: about themselves, about one another and, many of them, about God."

Hmm, makes you think, doesn't it? I don't know how naturalists get around the fact that we have soul.