Know Everything About the Turing Test That was Designed to Verify the Intelligence of Machines

The field of robotics has gone through a sea-change now, especially when you look at the way it was before the rise in popularity of humanoid robotics.

Humanoid robots are the ones that are made in resemblance to a human being. But this resemblance is NOT limited to looks alone. Today, a robot has to LOOK like a human, BEHAVE like a human, and should also FEEL like a human.

Artificial intelligence

So you see modern technological advancements have really gone off the roofs. More and more effort is directed toward artificial intelligence now to make robots smarter and more efficient. The intelligence of a robot is now valued as much as that of its appearance (if not more). This “Turing test” is designed to TEST the very same thing.

Now, in this article, we will discuss the different attributes of the Turing test in more detail for your reference. So pay attention as closely as possible.

Turing Test: A brief history

The Turing test was developed by Alan Turing in 1950 to test the ability of a machine exhibiting similar intelligent behavior in comparison to that of a human being.

Alan Turing

Source- Wiki

To pass the test, a machine has to successfully disguise itself as a human being, NOT only in appearance but also in behavior. If the disguise is convincing enough (such that no human can predict its true identity), it passes the test.

A brief overview of the test

The Turing test should take place between a human being and a machine in the presence of an evaluator (who should also be a human). Refer to the diagram below:

Diagrammatic representation of the Turing Test

A: Machine

B: Human being

C: Human evaluator

Source- Wiki

According to the norms of the test, the evaluator should be aware of the fact that one among the two is a machine and the other is a human. But s/he would not have ANY idea as to who is the machine and who’s not. The test would start in such a condition.

The human evaluator would then start a conversation with both (in written TEXT, so that speech recognition doesn’t become a barrier in any way whatsoever). If the evaluator fails to identify the machine among the two (through means of the conversation), the machine passes the test with distinction.

The pros and cons of the Turing Test

PROS

• Simplicity

The simplicity of the Turing test is the primary reason behind its appeal in the field of AI.

You will see that the appropriate definition of “machine intelligence” is really tough to conceive, especially when you try your best to compare the same with the human mind. Yet; Turing test, which is definitely not perfect from all possible angles, tries its best to simplify the entire thing to a more manageable and comprehensible level. If this isn’t an upside; what is?

• Authenticity; zero unfairness

The format of the Turing test helps the interrogator a lot by providing a variety of options to him/her to examine the capability of a machine in performing intellectual tasks (without even being aware of the fact as to who the machine is and who the human).

The test also helps to keep the barriers of the “voice” at bay, especially because it doesn’t involve any. It relies purely on text which definitely qualifies as an upside in our own honest opinion. This helps to prevent the evaluator from recognizing the machine from the human on the sole basis of voice.

CONS

• Turing test cannot detect the general intelligence of a machine

This is the obvious weakness of the test. Turing Test DOES NOT test the general intelligence of a machine. All it does is check the resemblance of a machine intelligence to that of a human being.

Now, don’t forget this fact that intelligence varies a lot from humans to humans. So the ability to test the intelligence of a machine from the general point of view would have carried great value, but unfortunately, it’s not to be. Therefore, it counts as the obvious downside of the test, and rightly so.

So that’s it for the time being then. Hope you really had a good and enlightening read. Bye!