  The Computational Metaphor, comparing the brain to the computer and vice
versa, is the most prominent metaphor in neuroscience and artificial
intelligence (AI). Its appropriateness is highly debated in both fields,
particularly with regards to whether it is useful for the advancement of
science and technology. Considerably less attention, however, has been devoted
to how the Computational Metaphor is used outside of the lab, and particularly
how it may shape society's interactions with AI. As such, recently publicized
concerns over AI's role in perpetuating racism, genderism, and ableism suggest
that the term "artificial intelligence" is misplaced, and that a new lexicon is
needed to describe these computational systems. Thus, there is an essential
question about the Computational Metaphor that is rarely asked by
neuroscientists: whom does it help and whom does it harm? This essay invites
the neuroscience community to consider the social implications of the field's
most controversial metaphor.
