How to Do Procedures in Turing

As of 2011, no computer has passed the Turing test.

The Turing test is a concept proposed by Alan Turing, a British scientist, in 1950. The point of a Turing test is to determine if a computer is capable of thinking. A computer has passed the test if it is able to convince a human being that it is not a computer. This is achieved by having a human ask questions of the computer and conversing with it. If the computer is able to give responses that trick the human into believing it is conversing with another person, the computer has successfully passed the Turing test.

Things You'll Need

• Human querent
• Human respondent
• 3 networked computers
• Timer

Instructions

1. Ask your querent to sit in front of one computer networked to both the respondent's computer and the computer taking the Turing test. The computer taking the Turing test must be capable of generating text based responses to verbal or written commands. Make sure some sort of text-based chat program is installed on all computers so all participants can communicate.

2. Arrange the human respondent and the testing computer out of sight of the querent.

3. Set the timer for five minutes and start it counting down. Ask your querent to submit questions to both the respondent and the computerized participant. A naturalistic, conversational flow should be established between the querent and the respondents. The point of the Turing test is to establish if a computer can think like a human, so have the querent ask anything her or she wants of both participants. After five minutes have passed, ask your querent if he or she can determine which participant is the computer and which is the human. If the querent is unable to tell that the computerized participant is, in fact, a computer, then the computer has passed the Turing test.

Tips & Warnings

• The Turing test is largely a philosophical exercise and a jumping off point for students and academics to consider the future of computers and the implications of technology. Any Turing test performed should be done so with the understanding that no computer systems yet exist that can pass the test and that the test itself is considered by some academics to be a flawed model of gauging computerized intelligence.

References

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Turing Test
• Forbes: Passing the Turing Test
• Discover Magazine: IBM Computer Fails the Turing Test but Just Might Pass the Jeopardy Test