What do computer scientists say about the ability of machines to think? Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, tackled the question in 1950 and proposed the Turing test as an answer. Is the Turing test important today? Can a deeper undertanding of intelligence be culled for the Turing test? Robert J. Marks discusses the Turing test, artificial intelligence, and intelligent design with Dr. George Montañez.

Show Notes

• 00:54 | Introducing Dr. George Montañez, Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College
• 01:13 | The LICORS cabinet
• 02:17 | Detecting Intelligence
• 02:38 | What is the Turing test?
• 03:25 | The Imitation Game
• 03:47 | Ensuring unbiased results
• 04:35 | How to determine if you are talking to a computer
• 05:17 | Do chatbots pass the Turing test?
• 06:17 | Selmer Bringsjord’s view of the Turing test
• 06:53 | Eugene Goostman — Did this chatbot beat the Turing test?
• 10:21 | Goodhart’s law and the Turing test
• 11:43 | Campbell’s law
• 12:07 | Artificial intelligence and intelligent design
• 12:40 | Causal theory of intelligent design
• 13:00 | Historical theory of intelligent design
• 13:29 | Three flavors of intelligent design
• 13:40 | Directed panspermia: Was life planted by aliens?
• 14:10 | Elon Musk: Are we living in a simulation?
• 14:30 | The Turing test, artificial intelligence, and intelligent design
• 16:56 | Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Additional Resources

• George Montañez’s faculty website
• George Montañez at Research Gate
• INNS/Intel Best Student Paper and Best Poster: “The LICORS cabinet: Nonparametric light cone methods for spatio-temporal modeling”
• Best Paper Award, CIKM 2014: “Cross-Device Search”
• Best Student Paper Award, IEEE SMC 2017: “The Famine of Forte: Few Search Problems Greatly Favor Your Algorithm”
• “Detecting Intelligence: The Turing Test and Other Design Detection Methodologies”
• Turing test at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Selmer Bringsjord’s faculty website at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
• Eugene Goostman
• Goodhart’s Law
• Campbell’s Law
• What is intelligent design?
• Directed panspermia
• Elon Musk on living in a simulation
• SETI at Encyclopædia Britannica