HAVE YOU BEEN confused by the latest Google Doodle?

There are six puzzles for Google users to solve in a celebration of the 100th birthday of the late computer scientist, mathematician and logician Alan Turing.

Turing was most famous for his work in the field of mathematics and for his role in operating the Enigma machine used to decode messages from the Nazis and their allies during WWII. The Turing test he devised for assessing artificial intelligence is still considered a major barometer in AI development today.

After being found to be involved in a relationship with another man when homosexual acts were still illegal in Britain, Turing was convicted of gross indecency. Turing was subjected to female hormone treatment – chemical castration – in lieu of imprisonment. His death two years later in 1952 was ruled a suicide, though the BBC reports today that Turing expert Professor Jack Copeland has questioned evidence presented at the inquest.

In 2009, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology on behalf of the British government for the “appalling” way Turing was treated in the years before his death.

“It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different,” Brown said. “He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely.”

If you’re having trouble decoding Google’s Doodle, check out this video:

Artificial Intelligence: how close is it to passing the test? >