Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!media-lab.media.mit.edu!minsky
From: minsky@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Re: IF IT DOES NOT PASS TT IT IS NOT INTELLIGENT????
Message-ID: <1991Jun25.071410.9354@news.media.mit.edu>
Sender: news@news.media.mit.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
References: <9106230258.AA12009@lilac.berkeley.edu> <610@ckgp.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1991 07:14:10 GMT

In article <610@ckgp.UUCP> thomas@ckgp.UUCP (Michael Thomas) writes:
>
>  Marvin Minsky: sinse you aparently hold surpreme knowledge, please 
>  tell us the goal of Turing's Test? Please also tell me if on an
>  agent machine you would first (or ever!) put it to the test? (TT)

OK. I will reply, but only on one absolutely imperative condition.  It
is not permitted to either reply to this message, or ever communicate
to this newsgroup again on the indicated subject until you have read
and considered every single sentence of Turing's original article on
Computing Machinery and Intelligence from volume 59 of MIND.

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Turing's goal was not *** repeat *** not to discuss whether a machine
can think.

Turing's goal was, instead, to discuss how a reasonable person ought
to deal with question, "Can Machines Think ?"
  After some discussion, Turing states that he believes that the
original question, "Can Machines Think ?" is too meaningless to
deserve discussion -- largely because it is too ambiguous.  However,
he suggests that there is another question that is less ambiguous and
more worth considering, for a number of reasons.

  Turing begins by describing the "Imitation Game".  And only then, he
presents us with the new question to be discussed. It is, "What will
happen when it is a computer that is placed in the other room ?"
(Only verbal messages are permitted to pass between the rooms. )

  Turing is kind enough to tell us his opinion of what will happen.
He believes that, by the year 2000, an average interrogator will not
have a better than 70% chance of correctly guessing, in five minutes,
whether the other room contains a person or a machine.

  By the way, so far as I can recall, Turing never once used the word
"intelligence" inside the paper.  I would hope that this will serve as
a lesson to everyone.  It is also a instance of one of my own
principles: that a word that appears in the title of a technical book
should never appear inside the text.

  And if you can't see the reason for this, then please stay away from
