Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Shutterstock

A computer programme passed the Turing Test for the first time in history

For a computer program to be successful, it must be mistaken for a human more than 30 per cent of the time during a series of five minute keyboard conversations.

A COMPUTER PROGRAM has become the first machine to officially pass the Turing Test, fooling people into thinking it was a 13-year-old boy.

Five supercomputers were competing against each other for the Turning Test 2014 prize. One of the computers, which used a computer programme to simulate a 13-year-old boy called Eugene Goostman, was successful, convincing 33 per cent of the human judges that it was human.

The machine was developed by Vladimir Veselov, who was born in Russia and now lives in the US, and Ukrainian Eugene Demchenko who lives in Russia.

For a computer to be successful in the Turing Test, it must be mistaken for a human more than 30 per cent of the time during a series of five minute keyboard conversations.

In a statement, University of Reading professor Kevin Warwick said that since the questions weren’t pre-prepared, like other tests, it mean the test was passed for the first time in its history.

Of course, the test has implications for society today. Having a computer that can trick a human into thinking that someone, or even something, is a person we trust is a wake-up call to cybercrime. The Turing Test is a vital tool for combatting that threat.It is important to understand more fully how online, real-time communication of this type can influence an individual human in such a way that they are fooled into believing something is true… when in fact it is not.

The event, held on Saturday at the Royal Society in London, took place on the 60th anniversary of the death of the computer scientist and mathematician Dr. Alan Turing.

Read: Google may mark pages affected by ECJ’s ‘right to be forgotten’ decision >

Read: Cancer, radar and transport college projects among those sharing €1.7mn Government funding >

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
31 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joanna
    Favourite Joanna
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:09 PM

    And thus Skynet was born.

    168
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shane Walsh
    Favourite Shane Walsh
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:22 PM

    Wont be long till they send a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 to execute Sarah Connor.. Or did that already happen?

    68
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jack Ripper
    Favourite Jack Ripper
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 4:35 PM

    Not at all. They simply found a very slimy way to cheat at passing the turing test. There was nothing intelligent about it.

    6
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Adrian O'Leary
    Favourite Adrian O'Leary
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 5:44 PM
    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Emily Elephant
    Favourite Emily Elephant
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:12 PM

    Is there a reverse Turing Test? I’m fairly sure that Frank is a computer.

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ciaran Norrby
    Favourite Ciaran Norrby
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:01 PM

    I know people that wouldn’t pass that test!!!

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Julian King
    Favourite Julian King
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:12 PM

    Hello Dave.

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Long
    Favourite John Long
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:09 PM

    Computer says no!

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Arthur Pewty
    Favourite Arthur Pewty
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:40 PM

    I’m gonna start typing gently on my keyboard from now on.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Irving Chubbie
    Favourite Irving Chubbie
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:20 PM

    Were the judges pedophiles or what?

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Irving Chubbie
    Favourite Irving Chubbie
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:58 PM

    Mea culpa. I should have explained my point better. What I meant was: why would you be having a conversation on the internet with a 13 year old boy in the first place? Unless you were in their age group.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris Judge
    Favourite Chris Judge
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:10 PM

    I think the judges knew that they were either talking to a real, 13 year old boy or a robot in a controlled setting. They had to ask questions to figure out which.

    I honestly doubt that they would use unknown users online to chat with this boy.

    15
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Emily Elephant
    Favourite Emily Elephant
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:39 PM

    Is it really not possible to have a conversation with a teenager without it being assumed that you want to have sex with them?

    27
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute pad mul
    Favourite pad mul
    Report
    Jun 10th 2014, 2:48 AM

    my thoughts exactly, Emily.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute spartacus
    Favourite spartacus
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:27 PM

    I would’nt worry about robots taking over too much it wont be long before they set up a” Robot Union” and that will be there downfall….;)

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kardia Skepsi
    Favourite Kardia Skepsi
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:45 PM

    Androids, if they’re ever made, will be more useful than humans as workers.

    They’ll be proper robots, doing whatever they’re told.

    It would be an interesting future. Better or not, it’d be interesting.

    Hell, the fact that this comment right here could be written by an AI is amazing.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brendan Boyd
    Favourite Brendan Boyd
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:54 PM

    I wouldn’t consider this a pass. This was not artificial intelligence in action. They produced a load of stock answers for a computer playing the part of a clueless 13 year old foreign kid with dodgy english. even then a majority of people didn’t buy it.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sargon
    Favourite Sargon
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:07 PM

    Do robots go to heaven?

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paddy Hannigan
    Favourite Paddy Hannigan
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:23 PM

    Do robots dream ?

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kardia Skepsi
    Favourite Kardia Skepsi
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:31 PM

    Dream of electric sheep?

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Colin Howell
    Favourite Colin Howell
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:59 PM

    Yeah, I’m definitely still way more afraid of silent quadrocopters than this

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Marcus Springfield
    Favourite Marcus Springfield
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:18 PM

    Should we be worried?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute philip murphy
    Favourite philip murphy
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:12 PM

    What’s a Turing test?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joanna
    Favourite Joanna
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:15 PM

    A computer that tricks someone into thinking it is human passes the Turing test.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kieran Ross
    Favourite Kieran Ross
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:18 PM

    Thanks Joanna! So what is a Turing Test?

    19
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joanna
    Favourite Joanna
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:23 PM

    Haha! A test some commenters here are failing. =P

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kardia Skepsi
    Favourite Kardia Skepsi
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:38 PM

    @Jayo: Nah, the blade runner test involved biometrics – like looking at eye movement, heart rate and pupil dilation while asking emotional questions.

    That’s a physical test on a possible human being to see if it’s an android or not.

    While the Turing test can be done over the phone or through typing or any communication really.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Flynn
    Favourite Paul Flynn
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 2:59 PM

    A turing test is whereby a real person and a computer have a conversation through email or text. If the human asks the computer “how are you today?” and the computer answers “the weather is fine here” or some other nonsense the human would be able to tell its a computer answering. However, if the computer answered “im fine, how are you?”, the human would not be able to tell if its talking to a computer or not. The conversation gets more complicated than that though.

    Essentially the computer mentioned above could hold a conversation well enough to make 30% of the people think they were having a conversation with another human.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute J. Dunn
    Favourite J. Dunn
    Report
    Jun 9th 2014, 3:57 PM

    They did well to limit the possible knowledge by making it a 13 year old. I doubt that success rate would stand had it been a 25 year old.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damien
    Favourite Damien
    Report
    Jun 10th 2014, 9:25 AM

    This didn’t happen!

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute user
    Favourite user
    Report
    Jun 10th 2014, 4:41 PM

    This story has been pretty comprehensively debunked by several knowledgable sources. Here’s a link to one

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140609/07284327524/no-computer-did-not-pass-turing-test-first-time-everyone-should-know-better.shtml

    Kind of shows the kind of bulls..t stories that are passed along by news agencies with little or no editorial process.

    TLDR just because it says so in a press release doesn’t make it true.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds