The turing test Barron s integrated essay

The reading passage and the lecture are discussing about the Turing Test by Alan Turing, which is an experiment about a question "can computers think?". However the professor is presenting the challenge made by a philosopher, that casts doubt about this test. Further, he discusses stating three main points about the thinking capacity of a computer.

Firstly, according to the professor, the philosopher claims that the Turing Test emphasizes the behavioural aspect rather than the thought processes of a computer. He explains this point with an example, where an english speaking person answers to the question of a chinese person in another room. Here the answers of the english speaking person can be modified to answer adequately if ha has larger refference to access the question. In addition, if the question is detailed and comprehensible, the english speaking person can respond in a correct sequence even though he does not understand chinese. Hence, it raises question about the validity of the Turing Test.

Second point of the challenge is that, a computer can be programmed to produce adequate behaviour,just as a person can act to be intelligent, though he is not. If a computer is programmed with the input of adequate behaviour output, it definitely can pass the Turing Test.

Yet there is a shallow chance of passing the Test because the last important statement of the challenge in the words of the professor is that, the Test itself is meaningless if the computer is unable to answer about the question of artificial intelligence "can computers think?".