{"id":4777,"date":"2022-06-23T09:23:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T08:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/?p=4777"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:28:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T14:28:49","slug":"passing-as-human-what-is-the-turing-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/2022\/06\/23\/passing-as-human-what-is-the-turing-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Passing as human \u2013 What is the Turing Test?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week marks 110 years since the birth of Alan Turing \u2013 mathematician, codebreaker, computer pioneer and, of course, University of Manchester heritage hero<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here on our blog we’re no stranger to the great man. We’ve highlighted his philanthropy<\/a>; unearthed little-known facts<\/a> about his professional and private life; delved into his lost letters<\/a>; and explained how he helped crack the Enigma code<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To acknowledge this would-be birthday, and to coincide with a time The University is powering up its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics \u2013 not least through the deployment of robots into dangerous environments<\/a>, its hosting of the Advances in Data Science and AI Conference<\/a>, and launch of the new Manchester Centre for Robotics and AI<\/a> \u2013 we’re focusing on one of his most extraordinary and forward-thinking ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly is the Turing Test?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put to the test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today’s computers seem pretty smart. We can ask Alexa about the weather and have a (fairly) coherent interaction with a chatbot online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But can a computer really<\/em> talk like a human?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Professor Aline Miller<\/a> answered whether we’ll always know the difference between AI and real people<\/a> \u2013 a question we’ve been asking for a long time. Indeed, Turing raised it in his seminal 1950 paper Computer Machinery and Intelligence<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wishing to answer the question ‘can machines think?’, Turing devised a hypothetical test to measure artificial intelligence. Originally named the Imitation Game \u2013 the same title, you might note, of the 2014 film about Turing’s life starring Manchester alumnus Benedict Cumberbatch \u2013 the method would become known as the Turing Test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our video explains how it works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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