Letter: Turing and the artificial mind
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Michael Lockwood ("Man v Machine", 13 May), like so many others, has overrated the Turing test. The Turing test is not some goal or benchmark artificial intelligence (AI) researchers are (or should be) shooting for. It is a thought experiment designed to get us each to ask ourselves, "How do I know that anything other than myself experiences consciousness?" If we give each other the benefit of the doubt, then why not extend that to something that passes the Turing test?
Beyond that role the test is not important. If and when we first implement an algorithm on silicon that experiences consciousness, it is very unlikely that it would pass the Turing test. (After all, we wouldn't expect some species out of Star Trek to pass the test either.)
The more important lesson from Alan Turing is the separation of algorithm from hardware. While the brain is very different from integrated circuits, nobody (pace Roger Penrose) has been able to argue that it is different enough given the substrate neutrality of algorithms. The arguments for strong AI are compelling. Saying that there is a lot about consciousness and the brain that we don't understand yet is no counter argument - it is mere wishful thinking.
JEFF GOLDBERG
Cranfield Computer Centre
Cranfield University
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
0Comments