ROBOTS 107
mathematics that are incomputable, that is, forever beyond the reach
of computers, no matter how powerful.
During World War II, Turing's pioneering work on code breaking
arguably saved the lives of thousands of Allied troops and influenced
the outcome of the war. The Allies were unable to decode the secret
Nazi code encrypted by a machine called the Enigma, so Turing and
his colleagues were asked to build a machine that would break the
Nazi code. Turing's machine was called the "bombe" and was ultimately successful. Over two hundred of his machines were in operation by the end of the war. As a result the Allies could read secret Nazi
transmissions and hence fool the Nazis about the date and place of the
final invasion of Germany. Historians have since debated precisely
how pivotal Turing's work was in the planning of the invasion of Normandy, which finally led to Germany's defeat. (After the war, Turing's
work was classified by the British government; as a result, his pivotal
contributions were unknown to the public.)
Instead of being hailed as a war hero who helped turn the tide of
World War II, Turing was hounded to death. One day his home was burglarized, and he called the police. Unfortunately, the police found evidence of his homosexuality and arrested him. Turing was then ordered
by the court to be injected with sex hormones, which had a disastrous
effect, causing him to grow breasts and causing him great mental anguish. He committed suicide in 1954 by eating an apple laced with
cyanide. (According to one rumor, the logo of the Apple Corporation, an
apple with a bite taken out of it, pays homage to Turing.)
Today, Turing is probably best known for his "Turing test." Tired of
all the fruitless, endless philosophical discussion about whether machines can "think" and whether they have a "soul," he tried to introduce rigor and precision into discussions about artificial intelligence
by devising a concrete test. Place a human and a machine in two
sealed boxes, he suggested. You are allowed to address questions to
each box. If you are unable to tell the difference between the responses
of the human and the machine, then the machine has passed the "Turing test."
mathematics that are incomputable, that is, forever beyond the reach
of computers, no matter how powerful.
During World War II, Turing's pioneering work on code breaking
arguably saved the lives of thousands of Allied troops and influenced
the outcome of the war. The Allies were unable to decode the secret
Nazi code encrypted by a machine called the Enigma, so Turing and
his colleagues were asked to build a machine that would break the
Nazi code. Turing's machine was called the "bombe" and was ultimately successful. Over two hundred of his machines were in operation by the end of the war. As a result the Allies could read secret Nazi
transmissions and hence fool the Nazis about the date and place of the
final invasion of Germany. Historians have since debated precisely
how pivotal Turing's work was in the planning of the invasion of Normandy, which finally led to Germany's defeat. (After the war, Turing's
work was classified by the British government; as a result, his pivotal
contributions were unknown to the public.)
Instead of being hailed as a war hero who helped turn the tide of
World War II, Turing was hounded to death. One day his home was burglarized, and he called the police. Unfortunately, the police found evidence of his homosexuality and arrested him. Turing was then ordered
by the court to be injected with sex hormones, which had a disastrous
effect, causing him to grow breasts and causing him great mental anguish. He committed suicide in 1954 by eating an apple laced with
cyanide. (According to one rumor, the logo of the Apple Corporation, an
apple with a bite taken out of it, pays homage to Turing.)
Today, Turing is probably best known for his "Turing test." Tired of
all the fruitless, endless philosophical discussion about whether machines can "think" and whether they have a "soul," he tried to introduce rigor and precision into discussions about artificial intelligence
by devising a concrete test. Place a human and a machine in two
sealed boxes, he suggested. You are allowed to address questions to
each box. If you are unable to tell the difference between the responses
of the human and the machine, then the machine has passed the "Turing test."