One can have a vast knowledge base, but this of itself does not lead to creative thinking. Or even to any kind of thinking strictly speaking.
Presumably we can understand "knowledge base" as the contents of memory, or some kind of storage device. In order for thinking to occur, the thinker must select from memory, i.e., "remember" items from past perception and experience that are relevant to what he wants to think about, and must organize these components into concepts. These operations are self-initiated, autonomous, independent of the knowledge base, and inherently goal-directed, or purposeful. The formulated concepts are then capable of further analysis, with further calls on memory to provide additional data as needed. The contents of memory do not organize themselves into concepts or judge or analyze them. Only a thinker can do that.
The problem seems to be that we can build machines, but we can't build thinkers.
It seems to me robots are amazingly sophisticated tools that man can deploy to serve his own goals and purposes. But it also seems that these sophisticated machines have no principle whereby they can originate goals and purposes of their own. Maybe we could say what they lack is free will? (Machines, after all, are determined systems.)
Strange stuff to be thinking about, F15Eagle! Thank you so much for writing!
Qualia also are examples - pain, pleasure, pretty, ugly, good, bad, etc. - things we experience but cannot convey, e.g. to a machine so that it can mimic the experience.
Thank you oh so very much for all your wonderful essay-posts, dearest sister in Christ!