Computer chatbot passes Turing test...

Mister 44

Mister 44

New member
...and the chatbot is named Eugene. Coincidence? You decide...

A computer program that pretends to be a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy called Eugene Goostman passed a Turing test at the Royal Society in London yesterday (Saturday 6 June) by convincing 33 percent of the judges that it was human during a five-minute typed conversation. The test was suggested by computer scientist Alan Turing in 1950, and the competition was held on the 60th anniversary of his death.
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33% is not my idea of a pass. Maybe the Turing test is drafted by representatives of the SA education system?

Anyway, you can read the whole thing here...

http://www.zdnet.com/computer-chatbot-eugene-goostman-passes-the-turing-test-7000030312/
 
Congrats Eugene. Your well on the way of achieving sentience. ;)

On the subject though, I do think that the Turing test is not that relevant anymore. Most of those questions are based upon 50 year old philosophy of what constitutes a normal human response, and I'm sure a review with current philosophical ideologies will make it much more accurate.
 
Still need to find myself one of these shirts:

i_failed_the_turing_test_computer_tee.jpg
 
Mister 44 said:
33% is not my idea of a pass
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Agreed.

DieGrootHammer said:
Most of those questions are based upon 50 year old philosophy of what constitutes a normal human response, and I'm sure a review with current philosophical ideologies will make it much more accurate.
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Agreed, but according to the report this was an open-ended test, topics and questions were not set in advance? That would make this 'victory' more impressive.

Even though I'm pleased to see that AI tech is advancing, I'm a bit worried about the 33% the bot managed to fool. In stead of celebrity judges, those who create these bots should converse with bots from other creators.
 
Juice said:
Agreed.



Agreed, but according to the report this was an open-ended test, topics and questions were not set in advance? That would make this 'victory' more impressive.

Even though I'm pleased to see that AI tech is advancing, I'm a bit worried about the 33% the bot managed to fool. In stead of celebrity judges, those who create these bots should converse with bots from other creators.
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How does this sound: Throw an equal number of chatbots and humans into a chatroom and at the end, everybody gets a vote (chatbots included).
 
Mister 44 said:
How does this sound: Throw an equal number of chatbots and humans into a chatroom and at the end, everybody gets a vote (chatbots included).
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This is an excellent point. So you're saying that what you're talking to is not human because it is merely a database who you are conveying your messages to?
 
Not really an amazing feat. People (guys?) have been passing JPG images and streaming videos off as "real" girlriends for years now :)
 
Eugene said:
This is an excellent point. So you're saying that what you're talking to is not human because it is merely a database who you are conveying your messages to?
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Ehh... sure. OK.
I actually just thought it'd be cool to give the computers a vote as well.
 
Mister 44 said:
...give the computers a vote as well.
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This was attempted in the late 1990's at the Paraíba commonwealth estates in Northeastern Brazil. Of the 4240 people who died as a result of this endeavour, 6% were skilled dam builders. The survivors fled to the agreste, where they spawned a new generation of round red root vegetable farmers.
 
That's basically what she said. Or, maybe I was just busy waking up. Also, I learned a new word. Shill.
 
TBlaar said:
I read the below a while ago..... it was in a computer engineering magazine. It's called "A Senseless Conversation".

I believe that everyone in this thread should read it. Line by line. Do not skip to the end.

I loved this article and it gave me another perspective on AI :)

https://sites.google.com/site/asenselessconversation/
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Good read. Interesting points raised, but I do have some comments on some of them. However, since these would contain some serious spoilers to the story, I'll wait a day or so to give everybody a chance to read it first.
 
Yeah, it's a good read, not 100% accurate at all times, but it was a welcome change to the 1st person accounts we usually hear.
 
Mister 44 said:
Good read. Interesting points raised, but I do have some comments on some of them. However, since these would contain some serious spoilers to the story, I'll wait a day or so to give everybody a chance to read it first.
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I'm still waiting... :rolleyes:


 
Eugene said:
I'm still waiting... :rolleyes:


/snip Tannie Connie
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Oops. Forgot about this.

OK, the point I want to make is the distinction between AI (passing the Turing test) and AA (artificial awareness) where the machine becomes self-aware. Aware of its own nature and existence, in other words. Basically what happened in the story. There is a huge difference between the two even though Hollywood seems to be a bit confused about the subject on occasion.

Computers are capable of passing the Turing test today. The hardware is there to drive it while the software is still lacking, but we are still many years away from self-aware machines.

I once read an article (and the source eludes me) about what would be needed to have self-aware computers. It boils down to quantum computing and allowing the machine to learn and grow on its own without pulling too many strings software-wise. Mimic the normal process of development in a human from foetus all the way to adulthood. Give it the DNA in software and allow it to write its own code from there on out.
(On a side note, after reading the article mentioned above I got an idea for a short story. An atheist scientist develops a self-aware program to prove his own religious concepts. He lets it lose on the internet and after months of processing the program announces itself converted to Judaism. I'm not trying to troll or bring religion into this, btw, I just thought it was a good idea for a story).

So, yeah, the entire point is that people confuse artificial intelligence with self-awareness. If a machine passes the Turing test, it won't mean it can think.
I am now ready to be flamed for my story idea.
 
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