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The Turing Test

Molinaro

Illuminator
Molinaro
Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
4,781
In 1950 Alan Turing introduced the idea that is know refered to as The Turing Test.

If you were rable to have a 2 way conversation via computer with someone else.. would you be able to tell if you were communicating with another person, or a computer running a program designed to immitate human responses?

Will any program ever pass the test and even reach a point of being indistinguishable from a person?

But more interesting to consider.. what would you ask in order to try and trip up a computer?
 
Marker said:
"Which would you rather be or a wasp?"

Seems to work pretty well at revealing weaknesses in the AI programming. You can try out your own questions here
turinghub.com
Click to expand...

That thing is pretty weak.

Me - where do you live?
It - I am from Ukraine, from the city called Odessa. You might have heard about it.
Me - yes, it's also an organization
It - At least someone agrees with me. I'll remember this nice moment for ages! Maybe, let's talk about something else? What would you like to discuss?
Me - the organization called odessa
It - Odessa is a very big city - it is a kind of "Babylon", because there are lots of nationalities living there - Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Greeks and many many more.
Me - jews is not a nationality
It - Bill, my guinea pig, is quite capable of studying languages. He speaks Ukrainian, Yiddish and a few other languages I don't remember.
 
I'd read it poetry and then ask questions.
Starting with this work by an Oxford Mathematician called Charles Dodgson:
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Click to expand...
 
Anyone who has read Kumar's posts will understand that telling the difference can be harder than expected.
 
Or even shorter
"The boy stood on the burning deck,
picking his nose like mad.
He rolled it into little balls
and flung it at his dad"
From a Canadian PhD candidate's paper on anaphoric resolution some years back. What is the "it"?
 
Marker said:
"Which would you rather be or a wasp?"

Seems to work pretty well at revealing weaknesses in the AI programming. You can try out your own questions here
http://www.turinghub.com/turinghub.html
Click to expand...


Me: Hello
The machine: Hello!

Me: What's your name?
The machine: George!

Me: There's no need to be quite so excited about it.
The machine: But there is doubt about the existence of God.
 
What is there about AI-programming except teaching the machine to ask counter questions and being evasive?

hello
Hi :)

who are you?
I, am Landru.

are you a battle ship?
Am I a battle ship? I don't know.

do you have armament?
Heh. As if I have armament - the idea's too absurd to imagine!

it is rather common for battle ships to have armaments you know
Not in my experience.
 
But would a person be evasive? The whole point I would think is that if you are talking to a person, they would not be trying to trick you into thinking they are a computer.

Any responses that evaded the question or turned it around into a question to me would be an indication that it is a computer, because that is not how people normaly react. A person may do it on occasion, but not repeatedly, and not without asking something along the lines of, "Why are you asking me these stupid questions?"

I would tend to ask questions that looked for personal knowledge of experience.

Q: How did you get here today? Could you have taken some other route? If so, how?

Q: xxxcanxxxyouxxxmakexxxaxxxsentencexxxjustxxxlikexxxthisxxxone?

A person would reply along the lines of, "Ya, but why would I want to?" Whereas I think it would be very difficult for a computer to reply with anything other than, "Huh? I don't follow you."

Q: If you wanted to know if you were talking to a computer or a person, what would you ask?
 
Molinaro said:
A person may do it on occasion, but not repeatedly, and not without asking something along the lines of, "Why are you asking me these stupid questions?"
Click to expand...

Hmm... for the Turing test, do we assume that the testee knows they're taking part in it?
 
These seem to break down around the third question. None really made it past "hello" for me. "Alice" contradicted herself on my first use of sarcasm.

Alice: I'm the best there is!

Me: Sure you are.

Alice: No I'm not. What gave you that idea?
 
strathmeyer said:
Hmm... for the Turing test, do we assume that the testee knows they're taking part in it?
Click to expand...

If the computer is suposed to act like a person, then so would a person be expected to act like a person. I don't think it would make sense to have a person giving responses trying to make you think they are a computer.
 
The livechat tech support person I was communicating with could not understand why I asked if he was a robot. I'm still not convinced he wasn't. He asked me if I had trouble downloading a program after I informed him that I had installed it on two computers already.
 
If we accept tests in wich the person performing the test is not aware they are testing then to all intents and perposes computers have already past.
 
We can all easily spot machines, so I've been thinking that another kind of detection would be much more interesting: You have a conversation with what is either a computer or a man pretending to be a computer. You have to find out whether you're talking to the man or the machine.
 
At least we're clear on it's belief system. I threw some abuse at it and it replied:

"Looking at people like you, I do believe in Darwin's theory. You are just an ape, a bit improved to be capable to swear."
 
El Greco said:
You have a conversation with what is either a computer or a man pretending to be a computer. You have to find out whether you're talking to the man or the machine.
Click to expand...

El Greco, that is the Turing test.
 
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