The Turing Test

David Leech Anderson: Author
Kari Cox: Animations, Storyboards

MODULE DESCRIPTION Alan Turing proposed a fascinating test for "machine intelligence" in 1950 which remains at the center of controversy. Offered here in animated form, it shows one way the test might be conducted and the types of questions that might be asked.

MODULE COMPONENTS:

Below are curriculum pages that briefly introduce the Turing Test and then provide a Flash animation that imagines a particular way the test might be run.

There are two different versions of the webpage which have exactly the same text but have different Flash animations. The first version ends with suggestions (hints) of specific questions that could be especially effective at identifying the computer. The second version doesn't offer any suggestions, leaving it up to the user to arrive at their own questions.

TURING TEST CURRICULUM

Turing Test (with suggestions)

Turing Test (without suggestions)

Funding:
This module was supported by National Science Foundation Grants #9981217 and #0127561 and a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) #R25RR020425, supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).