The Turing Test was proposed by computer pioneer Alan M. Turing (1912–1954) to determine whether a computer program is intelligent. This modern interpretation of the so-called imitation game is based on a setup where a person, a computer, and an interrogator are in three separate rooms and connected via computer terminals. The task of the interrogator is to figure out by asking questions which of the two connected terminals is operated by the human and which is the test computer. The computer is considered to be intelligent if the interrogator fails to determine its identity. The Turing Test is recognized as a critical test for computer intelligence and, as of 2002, had not been passed by any computer.

See also ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE; THINKING MACHINES

THIEMO KRINK