sciencetech-blog

comments

A super computer has become the first in history to pass the Turing Test, a benchmark of artificial intelligence set by codebreaker Alan Turing

A super computer has been created which can simulate human conversation so well that it has convinced people it is a teenage boy.

The machine is the first in history to pass the 'Turing Test' - a benchmark of artificial intelligence set by codebreaker Alan Turing.

The World War Two computing pioneer devised the test in 1950. He said that if a machine is indistinguishable from a human, it is 'thinking'.

Now a computer programme called Eugene, developed to simulate a 13-year-old boy, has now managed to convince 33 per cent of judges that it is human.

No computer had ever previously passed the Turing Test, which requires 30 per cent of human interrogators to be duped during a series of five-minute keyboard conversations.

Five machines were tested at the Royal Society in central London to see if they could fool people into thinking they were humans during text-based conversations.

Professor Kevin Warwick, from the University of Reading which organised the test, said: 'In the field of artificial intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test.

'It is fitting that such an important landmark has been reached at the Royal Society in London, the home of British science and the scene of many great advances in human understanding over the centuries. This milestone will go down in history as one of the most exciting.'

The successful machine was created by Russian-born Vladimir Veselov, who lives in the United States, and Ukrainian Eugene Demchenko who lives in Russia.

Mr Veselov said: 'It's a remarkable achievement for us and we hope it boosts interest in artificial intelligence and chatbots.'

Professor Kevin Warwick from the University of Reading, pictured following a previous experiment to build a cybernetic arm, said the computer passing was an important milestone

Prof Warwick said there had been previous claims that the test was passed in similar competitions around the world.

'A true Turing Test does not set the questions or topics prior to the conversations,' he said.

'We are therefore proud to declare that Alan Turing's test was passed for the first time.'

Prof Warwick said having a computer with such artificial intelligence had implications for society and would serve as a 'wake-up call to cybercrime'.

The event took place on the 60th anniversary of the death of Mr Turing, who laid the foundations of modern computing.

During the Second World War, his critical work at Britain's code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park helped shorten the conflict and save many thousands of lives.

Instead of being hailed a hero, Mr Turing was persecuted for his homosexuality. After his conviction in 1952 for gross indecency with a 19-year-old Manchester man, he was chemically castrated.

Two years later, he died from cyanide poisoning in an apparent suicide, though there have been suggestions that his death was an accident.

Last December, after a long campaign, Mr Turing was given a posthumous Royal Pardon.