Week 12 Writing Assignment

Dear Professor Brooks,

The Turing test, a novel idea if I've ever heard one, is a test to determine whether or not a computer is intelligent. However, I would say it's more of a test to determine whether or not the human being chatting with the computer is smart enough to realize he's talking to a robot. Thus the fatal flaw of the Turing Test: it's much too dependent on the human variable. One person might easily be tricked by a chat bot, while another more sophisticated person might find the chat bot to be completely unconvincing. Is it really that impressive that a chat bot was able to convince a couple of pornography enthusiasts? I can only imagine how that chat went.

Much like the IQ test, I don't think the Turing test is very reliable. I can only imagine that a computer's response is completely based on whatever it is asked, so it's possible for two different people to have the exact same conversation with a chat bot. With that in mind, even if it does fool everybody, I don't think it could be called intelligent because it's been programed to think a certain way. I would call HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" intelligent because surely he was not programed to feel jealousy, it was something that he learnt on his own. That is a sign of intelligence, not being able to fool a couple of humans.

If there is a better way to test computers for intelligence, I don't want to know about it. Computers should not be made to think. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time before they outsmart us and take over the world. It could already be happening. Maybe the computers are just playing dumb, biding their time for the perfect moment to strike. God help us all.

Love,
James