NationStates Jolt Archive

I was recently put in mind of the Turing Test (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-test/), the question of whether machines will ever be able to think. The crux of the difficulty lies in the ability to parse, i.e. make sense of a string of symbols. If you speak English, but not French, you may guess that "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" has something to do with a pipe. If you know French, you know it means, "This is not a pipe." And, if you know a little bit about Art, you also know that it is a famous painting (http://shlonkombakazay.blogspot.com/magritte6.jpg) by Rene Magritte.
Depending on your ability to parse and associate, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" is either meaningless jibber-jabber, or a startlingly deep reference.
Here's another example: 3.14159265358979323846, which many people will recognize as the first 20-odd decimals of the mathematical constant, pi. But how many people would recognize 11.00100100001111110110 as the same number, but in binary form?

So, given the difficulty of a human being parsing a string like, "Zomgwtfbbqhbdwytyg11@1,"* what do you think are the chances of a machine ever passing the Turing Test?

*"Zomgwtfbbqhbdwytyg11@1" = "Happy Birthday, Whereyouthinkyougoing!"

That's not the turing test.

lol wut

That's not the turing test.

There's a link to an extensive article about the Turing Test. The ability to imitate responses is dependant on the ability to recognize input. How limited the input affects the strength of the Test.

eta: Or the ability to recognize humour! LOL!

The Pope doesn't poop anywhere. He has a team of Swiss Guards do it for him.

The Pope doesn't poop anywhere. He has a team of Swiss Guards do it for him.

What the Bear began, the Pope has finished?

What have you done with the real Curious Inquiry, you heartless machine?

:mp5:

You're nuts. But have an amazing memory. :fluffle:

You're nuts. But have an amazing memory. :fluffle:

*Looks at profile*

Wow, it really is your birthday this time. It seems to have been a poll option or been said in a thread for so long now that I just assumed you had a birthday everyday...

Happy birthday!

*Looks at profile*

Wow, it really is your birthday this time. It seems to have been a poll option or been said in a thread for so long now that I just assumed you had a birthday everyday...

Happy birthday!
o_O It... has? This is the first time I've ever seen it. *paranoid* << But thanks. :)

I think this is where I vote for "In b4 moved to Spam"...

o_O It... has? This is the first time I've ever seen it. *paranoid* << But thanks. :)

I think this is where I vote for "In b4 moved to Spam"...

Ruffy always seems to be saying happy birthday to you.

Ruffy always seems to be saying happy birthday to you.
Oh, Ruffy. I think that was just once, the other day. Usually he just strings meaningless words together. :p

I imagine that eventually a computer will be able to pass the Turing test. That doesn't mean it would think as we do; it'd still be a computer. Only humans think like humans. A thinking computer would not be the same thing as a thinking man, just as an lion's thoughts are unlike ours. It could still look the same, though.

I imagine that eventually a computer will be able to pass the Turing test. That doesn't mean it would think as we do; it'd still be a computer. Only humans think like humans. A thinking computer would not be the same thing as a thinking man, just as an lion's thoughts are unlike ours. It could still look the same, though.

Dude, robots that look like lions would rock.

All I saw was a pipe, how come its not a pipe?

Hmm.. What is really the meaning of getting computers to think like us? So they can think for us?

All I saw was a pipe, how come its not a pipe?

Hmm.. What is really the meaning of getting computers to think like us? So they can think for us?

Magritte's point was that it was a painting of a pipe, not really a pipe. We've become so used to interpreting 2d visual representations of 3d objects as 3d objects that we've forgotten how unusual it is.

And, yes, I think you've figured out the machine angle, there. Douglas Adams (or was it Terry Pratchett?) had some amusing stuff along those lines in one of his books. Wish I had a machine that could tell me which one . . .

All I saw was a pipe, how come its not a pipe?

All that you see on a monitor is a picture, moving or not.

Try to imagine that you are seeing the actual painting. The artist has carefully written something on it which isn't true.

I think Magritte would have liked lolcats. :)

Oh, Ruffy. I think that was just once, the other day. Usually he just strings meaningless words together. :p
Maybe some day we'll have a machine that can parse Ruffy . . . "The Ruffy Test" . . . :eek:

All that you see on a monitor is a picture, moving or not.

Try to imagine that you are seeing the actual painting. The artist has carefully written something on it which isn't true.

I think Magritte would have liked lolcats. :)

What he wrote is true, it isn't a pipe. It's a picture. But I agree, Rene would have loved lolcats :fluffle:

It's true that it's not a physical pipe. But since no one would ever mistake it for one, I don't see why it is terribly clever to point out that it isn't. It's perfectly correct to say that what's on the painting is a pipe. I guess ambiguous wording is supposed to make you well respected by those who actually do think it's clever.

It's true that it's not a physical pipe. But since no one would ever mistake it for one, I don't see why it is terribly clever to point out that it isn't. It's perfectly correct to say that what's on the painting is a pipe. I guess ambiguous wording is supposed to make you well respected by those who actually do think it's clever.

A clever man thinks he need not be wise. A wise man knows he need not be clever.

Maybe I should sig that . . .