Computer Passes Turing Test

[_ronzlo_]

Turing Test breakthrough as super-computer becomes first to convince us it's human

Eugene Goostman, a computer programme pretending to be a young Ukrainian boy, successfully duped enough humans to pass the iconic test

A programme that convinced humans that it was a 13-year-old boy has become the first computer ever to pass the Turing Test. The test — which requires that computers are indistinguishable from humans — is considered a landmark in the development of artificial intelligence, but academics have warned that the technology could be used for cybercrime.

Computing pioneer Alan Turing said that a computer could be understood to be thinking if it passed the test, which requires that a computer dupes 30 per cent of human interrogators in five-minute text conversations.

Eugene Goostman, a computer programme made by a team based in Russia, succeeded in a test conducted at the Royal Society in London. It convinced 33 per cent of the judges that it was human, said academics at the University of Reading, which organised the test.

It is thought to be the first computer to pass the iconic test. Though other programmes have claimed successes, those included set topics or questions in advance.

A version of the computer programme, which was created in 2001, is hosted online for anyone talk to. (“I feel about beating the turing test in quite convenient way. Nothing original,” said Goostman, when asked how he felt after his success.)

The computer programme claims to be a 13-year-old boy from Odessa in Ukraine.

"Our main idea was that he can claim that he knows anything, but his age also makes it perfectly reasonable that he doesn't know everything," said Vladimir Veselov, one of the creators of the programme. "We spent a lot of time developing a character with a believable personality."

The programme's success is likely to prompt some concerns about the future of computing, said Kevin Warwick, a visiting professor at the University of Reading and deputy vice-chancellor for research at Coventry University.

"In the field of Artificial Intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test, when a computer convinces a sufficient number of interrogators into believing that it is not a machine but rather is a human," he said. "Having a computer that can trick a human into thinking that someone, or even something, is a person we trust is a wake-up call to cybercrime.

"The Turing Test is a vital tool for combatting that threat. It is important to understand more fully how online, real-time communication of this type can influence an individual human in such a way that they are fooled into believing something is true... when in fact it is not."

The test, organised at the Royal Society on Saturday, featured five programmes in total. Judges included Robert Llewellyn, who played robot Kryten in Red Dwarf, and Lord Sharkey, who led the successful campaign for Alan Turing's posthumous pardon last year.

Alan Turing created the test in a 1950 paper, 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'. In it, he said that because 'thinking' was difficult to define, what matters is whether a computer could imitate a real human being. It has since become a key part of the philosophy of artificial intelligence.

The success came on the 60th anniversary of Turing's death, on Saturday.

[nowaysj]

My only question is when are these fucking robots going to start paying taxes. Enough of the freeloading.

[_ronzlo_]

My only question is when are these fucking robots going to start paying taxes. Enough of the freeloading.

You know they'll figure out the loophole (like corporations that get to be individuals but not pay taxes. WTF.)

The face of the Republican party will be a little less white and a little more silicon.

[m8son666]

My only question is when are these fucking robots going to start paying taxes. Enough of the freeloading.

it's eastern european so dont hold ur breath

[nowaysj]

Ukrainian, right. Figures.

[rickyarbino]

My only question is when are these fucking robots going to start paying taxes. Enough of the freeloading.

Can't work until it's 16. I think that's only if they are attributed legal personhood anyway though.

[rockonin]

My only question is when are these fucking robots going to start paying taxes. Enough of the freeloading.

Fucking robots, first taking all our jobs, soon they'll be taking our women.

[m8son666]

Everyone marvels at new robotic technology but tbh i think it will have/has had a negative impact on our species. Think about how much less unemployment there would be if robots had never been invented.

[nowaysj]

Labor has been hugely devalued. Intellectual labor is about to be hugely devalued. When you put those two together, I'm sorry, but there is no need for most of the people on the planet to exist, and Mhateson, you'll have your dream realized. You'd certainly pull the plug if you were one of the owners.

[rickyarbino]

Robots are capitalism at its finest tbh.

[Genevieve]

Everyone marvels at new robotic technology but tbh i think it will have/has had a negative impact on our species. Think about how much less unemployment there would be if robots had never been invented.

Technology has made us more productive and the production process cheaper, allowing us to get more goods more cheaply. And additional mechanization has created different types of jobs in the similar sectors, because mechanization changes the market and demands.

Food would've been more expensive for everyone had we not industrialized.

[rickyarbino]

Not really, that's more true if it's really only the one, or small set thereof, company producing it. It's really helped monopolists in the food industry though.

[_ronzlo_]

All I know is that it's hard to make a DAW from twigs and coconuts and shit.

[nowaysj]

All I know is that it's hard to make a DAW from twigs and coconuts and shit.

You're totally wrong rizlo. People been doing it for a coupla million years. Don't trip, the beat will go on.

[Harkat]

we're fucked

[m8son666]

Labor has been hugely devalued. Intellectual labor is about to be hugely devalued. When you put those two together, I'm sorry, but there is no need for most of the people on the planet to exist, and Mhateson, you'll have your dream realized. You'd certainly pull the plug if you were one of the owners.

oh god please yes

I am seriously considering writing a book about the human race choosing to walk into extinction.

[m8son666]

Everyone marvels at new robotic technology but tbh i think it will have/has had a negative impact on our species. Think about how much less unemployment there would be if robots had never been invented.

Technology has made us more productive and the production process cheaper, allowing us to get more goods more cheaply. And additional mechanization has created different types of jobs in the similar sectors, because mechanization changes the market and demands.

Food would've been more expensive for everyone had we not industrialized.

Yeah i suppose although i think eventually/soon the benefits of the increasing use of robots will be outweighed by the negatives of humans becoming unnecessary in a lot of processes.

Just because we can get robots to do most things doesn't mean we should imo.

[nowaysj]

Much of the human race is passive and is being walked into extinction. They are not truly choosing. I have to believe they are aware on some level, but I don't find them morally culpable, like I don't find the bull to be morally culpable for thrusting at the red cape.

[m8son666]

Yeah i mean like a novel about how the governments of the world decide they should kill humanity off as a whole, whether by nuclear means or other, and the philosophy behind it.

[rickyarbino]

I better get a free audio dubplate.