The Turing Test

Did we pass the test?

“The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.” – Wikipedia

This installation was part of a greater exhibition, link to londonist article and independent article

A participant would enter the experiment in social psychology-like conditions. Harsh, bright fluorescent lighting and several video cameras greet them on one side of a two way mirror.

The participants were then given a questionnaire by two “scientists”, and told they were building a personality profile.

The participants were then told to sit in the next room, where they were greeted by a screen that would speak to them.

The machine would communicate via green-on-black text a-la computer terminal, and would ask questions. The participants had a keyboard to respond.

The machine would win if the participant believed that they were talking to something indistinguishable from a real person – and pass the Turing test.

The kicker was that the participants were talking to a real person – on the other end of a chat relay facilitated by my favourite credit card sized computer.

The room where participants were studied

I think we won……. Dave