Read Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy, Volume LIX, Number 236: October 1950.

Turing's paper and the broader question "Can Machines Think?" will be our discussion topic for Tuesday. To prepare for that discussion, read Turing's paper (at least twice) and prepare and submit an outline (on Monday) of his argument.

Consider the following questions and develop your own responses to them:

1. Is anything wrong with the question "Can machines think?"

2. Is winning the "imitation game" (passing the Turing test) a necessary condition for computer intelligence? Is it a sufficient condition?

3. Which objection to artificial intelligence discussed by Turing do you find most plausible? Can you find ways of overcoming the objection?

4. Are computers now any closer to being conscious now than they were in Turing's day? Does it matter?

5. Can computers learn?

6. What obstacles to computer intelligence did Turing neglect?

7. What other significant questions do you believe are raised by Turing's paper?

8. Are there important aspects of the question "Can Machines Think" that you believe Turing fails to address? What are they?
 
 

Your solutions to the problems on the Cryptology Worksheet I will be due on Monday, May 7. You may wish to use the program Frequency.html to obtain frequency counts of some of the cryptograms.