Introduction
I.
II.
As technology continues to advance this question
has been presented: “Can Machines think?”
This is the question that Alan Turing asked in 1950 in
his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence.
i. Turing devised a hypothetical test that could
determine if machines could think.
ii. This test is called the imitation game and
when broken down is quiet simple.
1. The game consists of three players: an
interrogator, a computer, and another
participant.
2. The interrogator is isolated and his goal
is to determine which one is the
computer and which one is human.
3. So, if the interrogator fails to identify the
machine from the human, it is said that
the machine has artificial intelligence.
4. Turing predicted that by 2000 it would
be possible to fool an average
interrogator with the probability of at
least 30%
(Transition: While the Turing test provides a good basis to
answering this issue, I have been posed with the question is
the Turing test valid?)
Body
III.
Introduction
A. Argument for the Turing Test
i. I came across a quote from the poet James
Riley that explains the duck criterion.
1. The quote says “When I see a bird that
walks like a duck and swims like a duck
and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a
duck.”
2. “Turing’s intelligence criterion is
attractive because the decision is based
on purely observable, external
characteristics.”
3. Without Turing defining a solid definition
of intelligence we can evaluate it’s
presence solely on how it interacts with
the environment.
a. Therefore this point is arguing that
the Turing test is a perfect
indication of machine intelligence
because one can observe and
evaluate the machines external
characteristics.
ii. The last argument for the Turing test didn’t
have much evidence to back it up but I
thought it was kind of spooky.
1. “…an intelligent machine might fail the
Turing test because it may believe it is
in its best interest not to show how
intelligent it is.”
2. So something like Hal 9000 could be a
very realistic thing in our future.
B. Now I will present some argument’s against the
Turing Test
i. Many sources claim that the Turing test has
already been passed. I have a video that
explains this. 30 – 1:30
1. If the Turing test has already been
passed by machines of today, society
needs to move on to a more updated
version of the test.
ii. The next argument is that one singular test
for intelligence is not enough.
1. Intelligence is categorized into different
ways, so to only determine if a machine
is intelligent or not based on a
conversational aspect would be
discrimination.
2. For example, the Google self-driving
car, or robots with anti-fall technology
would be considered intelligent but not
in the way Turing had in mind.
a. These machines have a different
type of intelligence that Turing did
not account for.
b. How are we to decide if machines
can think through the Turing test if
the Turing test does not cover all of
these bases?
iii. Another counter argument is that Turing’s
question of “Can machines think” is not a fair
one.
1. Moshe Vardi questions why we are even
asking if machines can think.
2. He argues that thinking a human activity
and therefore we should not pose it on
machines.
3. Instead a better question to ask would
be “Can machines act Intelligently?”
4. This would support the idea of multiple
intelligences and change the way we
could look at a machine’s capability.
iv. The final argument against Turing’s test that I
found involves human error.
1. While the object of the game is to try to
determine which computer is acting like
a human, judges at the 2008 Loebner
Contest identified a human as a
computer, instead of the opposite.
2. This is not the anticipated results that
Turing had in mind for the test.
3. So, the Turing test can involve quiet a
bit of human error, therefore making it
harder to judge if a machine is intelligent
of not.
Conclusion:
I.
II.
III.
Many have argued over the validity of the Turing
test.
Hopefully the information I have presented today
can help you form your own opinion on the test.
The question I leave you with is “If not the Turing’s
test, then what?