Alan Turing Research Paper

691 Words2 Pages

Alan Turing was a pioneer in the world of computers and technology by contributing to the fields of mathematics, computer science, and artificial intelligence, along with other fields as well. He lived from June 23, 1912 until June 7, 1954. Born in London, he spent his childhood living in England as the son of a member of the Indian Civil Service. While his father was commissioned in India, he and his brother lived in numerous different English foster homes. As a child, he expressed a strong interest and passion for science. Turing studied mathematics in King’s College, University of Cambridge, and graduated in 1934. He completed his Ph.D. in mathematical logic in 1938 in Princeton University. One of the things Alan Turing is known for is his creation of the concept of the Turing Machine. His ideas were presented in a paper, written in 1936. The Turing Machine is not a physical machine; it is a hypothetical mathematical tool and model. It was an idea of a computing …show more content…

In 1950, he designed a test to determine whether or not a computer has the ability to think, later called the Turing Test. In this test, a human asks questions to two responders. One is a computer and the other is a human, but the questioner does not know the identity of each. After asking questions and listening to their responses, the questioner then has to guess which is the computer. The computer is considered to have the capacity for thought if the questioner correctly selects the computer half or less than half of the times. Because it is just as likely to be picked as the human responder, this would means the computer would have the equivalent thought capability as the human responder and can be considered intelligent. Many criticized this test, but the Turing Test was still a major landmark in the field of artificial intelligence. It is still used today as a point of controversy and argument over artificial

More about Alan Turing Research Paper

Open Document