Word of the Day: Turing test

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |December 13, 2017

Turing test In artificial intelligence (AI), a Turing Test is a method of inquiry for determining whether or not a computer is capable of thinking like a human being. The test is named after Alan Turing, an English mathematician who pioneered machine learning during the 1940s and 1950s. Turing proposed that a computer can be said to possess artificial intelligence if it can mimic human responses under specific conditions. The original Turing Test, also referred to as the Imitation Game, requires three terminals -- each of which is physically separated from the other two. One terminal is operated by a computer, while the other two are operated by humans.   During the test, one of the humans functions as the questioner, while the second human and the computer function as respondents. The questioner interrogates the respondents within a certain subject area, using a specified format and context. After a preset length of time or number of questions, the questioner is then asked to decide which respondent was human and which was a computer.   The test is repeated many times. If the questioner makes the correct determination in half of the test runs or less, the computer is considered to have artificial intelligence, because the questioner regards it as "just as human" as the human respondent. The Turing Test has been criticized over the years, in particular because historically, the nature of the questioning had to be limited in order for a computer to exhibit human-like intelligence. For many years, a computer might only score high if the questioner formulated the queries so they had "Yes" or "No" answers or pertained to a narrow field of knowledge. When questions were open-ended and required conversational answers, it was less likely that the computer program could successfully fool the questioner. To many researchers, the question of whether or not a computer can pass a Turing Test has become irrelevant. Instead of focusing on how to convince someone they are conversing with a human and not a computer program, the real focus should be on how to make a human-machine interaction more intuitive and efficient -- by using a conversational interface, for example. Quote of the Day "Obviously, the Turing test is the holy grail regarding technology. But at the end of the day, the real litmus test is the customer experience data. If consumers are happy with the outcome, it really doesn't matter what the Turing test results are." - Michael Replogle   Trending Terms AI terminal CAPTCHA socialbot chatbot artificial personality IBM Watson supercomputer   Learning Center Do customer service chatbots need to pass the Turing test? AI developers have long had the Turing test in their sights. But experts say customer service chatbots should focus on the customer journey, not the test. Machine versus the bots: Does your website pass the Turing 2.0 test? Robert Richardson questions whether computers can detect the bots vs. real users, as security tools use browser behavior and polymorphism to protect against data theft and fraud. How can Google's CAPTCHA challenge be bypassed using Google tools? Researchers managed to bypass Google's CAPTCHA challenge by exploiting flaws in Google web-based tools. Find out what flaws enable this attack. CAPTCHA-bypassing malware on Android apps found in Google Play Store Researchers found sophisticated CAPTCHA-bypassing malware on Android apps in the official Google Play Store. AI integration with CRM tools boosts lead scoring processes As AI technologies continue to build steam, AI integrations with CRM platforms are helping sales teams reap the benefits with predictive lead scoring. Writing for Business Although some parts of the consumer industry are adept at using artificial intelligence apps practically and profitably, most businesses are slow to ________ and implement AI. a. except b. accept Answer   Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2016 TechTarget. All rights reserved.