AI and Intelligence: Inside Turing’s Legacy

This podcast in on Alan Turing's paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," explores the question of whether machines can think. Turing proposes a test, known as the imitation game, to assess a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour indistinguishable from that of a human. He argues that if a machine could pass this test, then it would be reasonable to consider it capable of thinking. The paper then examines various arguments against the possibility of machines thinking, including theological objections, the "heads in the sand" objection, and the mathematical objection based on limitations in computing power. Turing refutes these arguments and ultimately believes that machines will eventually be able to think, suggesting that progress in this area will come from focusing on learning machines that can be programmed to simulate the development of a child's mind through education and experience.