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From: erich@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (Erich Boleyn)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Value of AI, was -> (Re: The Turing Test is no good!)
Keywords: AI, Turing Test, Turing Machine
Message-ID: <3240@psueea.UUCP>
Date: 15 Aug 90 08:44:35 GMT
References: <2860@bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU> <3156@gara.une.oz.au> <3231@psueea.UUCP> <66412@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
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Reply-To: erich@eecs.ee.pdx.edu (Erich Boleyn)
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Organization: Portland State University, Portland, OR
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In <66412@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> loren@tristan.UUCP (Loren Petrich) writes:
>
>	That's very good point about the Turing Test -- that our
>"knowledge" of other people's minds is based on EXACTLY that
>principle. I recall some months back getting into a long and involved
>argument with Tom Simmonds on this very subject. He had claimed that a
>computer can never truly "think" (which seems to be Searle's
>position), and I challenged him to demonstrate that other people
>think. I had to explain to him what the Turing Test was, and I
>challenged him to find arguments for the existence of other minds that
>did not reduce to the Turing Test. All he came up with was versions of
>the Turing Test. If alternatives to the Turing Test exist, then they
>must be hard to find.

   Hmmm...  This brings an idea to mind.  Might it not be interesting to
work on developing Turing Test theory in much the same way as Turing
Machine theory?  Such as working on what tests could in essence reduce
to a Turing Test and what couldn't?  (as a start)  There are many possible
paths for such an idea, but the one that I have just thought of would
almost be like a generalization of the Turing Test, IQ testing, etc.
It would of course require mathematically rigorous definition (I cannot
think of anything good at the moment ;-) to be very useful, with information
on the physical intelligences that we DO know of that has been accumulated
over recent years (plus some innovative psychology) perhaps something
interesting could be done.

   Part of this idea comes from a sci-fi book that I read recently called
Hyperion (apolgies to the author, Dan Simmons), where they have a rating
system for AI's called the Turing-<something> index much like a very
sophisticated IQ measuring system for AI's.

   Erich
   ___--Erich S. Boleyn--___  CSNET/INTERNET:  erich@cs.pdx.edu
  {Portland State University}     ARPANET:     erich%cs.pdx.edu@relay.cs.net
       "A year spent in           BITNET:      a0eb@psuorvm.bitnet
      artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God"