The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
The Turing test was developed by British mathematician Alan Turing as a means of assessing the capabilities of a computer to process information like a human brain. Turing devised a subjective test to answer the question "Can machines think?"
In a 1950 paper entitled "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," Turing argued that computers would, in time, be programmed to acquire abilities that would rival human intelligence. This would be possible if the operations in the human brain were executed in a computational manner. The Turing test arose from this paper.
In the test, a human questioner is placed in an isolated environment. In the original Turing test, the human used a computer terminal that was, in turn, connected to two unseen terminals. One of these unseen terminals was under human control, while the other was controlled by computer software. The task of the interrogator is to pose questions and to use the answers to distinguish between a computer and a human. If a distinction cannot be made, then the computer is considered intelligent.
Over the years, the number of questions submitted for use in the Turing test has increased to over 9,000. Some of these questions are:
With time, the Turing test has broadened in its application. Now a machine passes the Turing test if it can convince the interrogator that it is human; another human need not be part of the test.