Turing, Alan - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Mathematics

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 2 pages of information about Turing, Alan.

Turing, Alan - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Mathematics

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 2 pages of information about Turing, Alan.
This section contains 546 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Turing, Alan Encyclopedia Article

British Mathematician and Cryptanalyst 1912–1954

In the October 1950 issue of Mind, the brilliant thinker Alan Turing wrote, "We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields." Turing believed that machines could mimic the processes of the human brain but acknowledged that people would have difficulty accepting such a machine—a problem that still plagues artificial intelligence today.

In a footnote to his 1936 paper on computable numbers, Alan Turing proposed a machine that could solve mathematical problems—a model for what later would become the modern computer. In a footnote to his 1936 paper on computable numbers, Alan Turing proposed a machine that could solve mathematical problems—a model for what later would become the modern computer.

Turing also proposed a test to measure whether a machine could be considered "intelligent." The widely acclaimed "Turing test" involved a connecting a human by teletype (later a computer keyboard) to either another human or a machine. The first human would then ask questions that are translated through these mechanical links. If the respondent on...

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This section contains 546 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Turing, Alan Encyclopedia Article
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Turing, Alan from Macmillan. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.