Learn about the Turing test鈥攊ts history, how it works, and why 颈迟鈥檚 used鈥攁nd how to conduct your own Turing test to discover more about today鈥檚 AI technology.
The Turing test refers to a thought experiment developed in 1950 by Alan Turing, a mathematician, computer scientist, and cryptanalyst, as a way to gauge a machine鈥檚 ability to generate human-like communication. Originally called 鈥渢he imitation game,鈥 the Turing test is a useful tool for studying a machine鈥檚 interactions with humans and reflecting on the definitions of 鈥渢hinking鈥 and 鈥渋ntelligence.鈥澨
As we鈥檒l explore in more depth, the Turing test is still useful for learning more about artificial intelligence as it becomes increasingly integrated into our lives. The more we rely upon AI to make decisions, create economic opportunities, and advance society, the more important it is to understand AI鈥檚 capabilities.听
Over the years, the Turing test has made its way into popular films that explore the relationship between humans and 鈥渋ntelligent鈥 machines, including Blade Runner (1982), Ex Machina (2015), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), and, of course, The Imitation Game (2014).
Keep reading to discover more about the Turing test and how you can use it to examine AI systems like ChatGPT.
When Alan Turing developed the test, his aim was to give people a tool for determining machines鈥 capabilities, particularly when it comes to natural language processing. Can machines actually think or exhibit intelligent behavior, or can they do only what humans have programmed them to do? And can machines mimic human-level intelligence through natural language such that their communications could be indistinguishable from humans?听听
More than 70 years later, the Turing test still serves these purposes and can provide us with a starting point for measuring AI鈥檚 human likeness, evaluating its capabilities, and facilitating AI research. With more insight into AI鈥檚 capabilities and limitations, developers can create more sophisticated systems that can perform vital functions in many areas of human life.听
Now that we鈥檝e reviewed the definition of the Turing test, its history, and why 颈迟鈥檚 used, let鈥檚 go deeper into how it works:
A Turing test has three participants:
A human judge (also called the interrogator) asks questions for a machine and a human to answer. The judge evaluates the responses from the machine and human to identify the responder.听
A machine interlocutor, such as a generative AI system, answers the judge鈥檚 questions in natural language that simulates human conversation and behavior.
A human interlocutor who answers the judge鈥檚 questions alongside the machine and provides a baseline for comparison against the machine.听
Asking the human and machine interlocutors questions allows these test participants to form written responses that the judge can evaluate and compare. The purpose is to find out if the machine鈥檚 answers can convince the judge that the human interlocutor produced them.
There is no official list of questions to pose to the human and machine during a Turing test. Asking the following types of questions, though, can help you tell the machine鈥檚 answers from the human鈥檚 because they require the interlocutor to generate thoughtful, context-rich, socially appropriate responses.听听
Open-ended questions like, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 a skill or talent you鈥檇 like to develop and why?鈥澨
Opinion questions like, 鈥淲hat is your perspective on technology and its impact on mental health?鈥
Emotional questions like, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 something from the past that you long for?鈥
Personal questions like, 鈥淲hat was it like to fall in love for the first time?鈥
Hypothetical scenarios like, 鈥淚magine that you are a museum curator in the future. What artifacts of today would you display in the museum and why?鈥
Self-assessment questions like, 鈥淗ow do you think you performed on this test? How human-like are your answers to my questions?鈥
The Imitation Game is the official name for the Turing test, which Alan Turing first outlined in a seminal paper titled "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" (1950). The purpose of the test is to identify whether a machine exhibits human-like intelligence by convincingly responding to a series of questions asked by a human interrogator.
The test is called the Imitation Game because it's designed in such a way that the interrogator is intentionally unaware of whether they are conversing with a machine or a human. If the machine can essentially fool the average interrogator into believing that it's a person, then it's said to exhibit human intelligence.
For the test to provide valuable insight into machine intelligence, the human judge must not know which conversational partner is the machine and which is the human. To ensure concealment during a Turing test, the judge can communicate with both the human and machine through a computer interface that doesn鈥檛 supply any identifying information. That way, the interlocutors鈥 responses stand on their own, and the judge can evaluate them purely for their human-like communication style.听
After a Q&A series between the judge and the two interlocutors, the judge then evaluates the interlocutors鈥 responses. Some of the criteria might include:听
颁谤别补迟颈惫颈迟测听
Empathy
Natural language use听
Ethical considerations
搁别濒别惫补苍肠别听
If the machine can convince the human judge that 颈迟鈥檚 human, or if the human judge cannot distinguish between the human鈥檚 and machine鈥檚 responses, then the machine has passed the Turing test.听听
Now that ChatGPT has become widely used for so many tasks, one thing people wonder is whether it can pass a Turing test and communicate with the empathy, contextual awareness, and nuance of a human. Some sources suggest that ChatGPT has passed the test in individual instances, but there is no official word from , the makers of ChatGPT, on the results of any official ChatGPT Turing test.
To this day, the Turing test is a valuable tool for learning more about AI. It does have some limitations, which are important to consider as we seek to understand and improve AI.听听
There鈥檚 no way for the test to determine whether a machine is truly intelligent in the sense that it actually understands the conversation in which it participates. The test only helps humans observe how well a machine can produce outputs that are close enough to human conversation so as to be indistinguishable.听
The evaluation of the human judge will be subjective, based on their own understanding of how a human communicates. In some cases, the confederate effect may occur, which refers to instances when a human interlocutor is falsely identified as a machine.听
Human judges may be limited in their knowledge that some test questions address. For instance, the sample question above鈥斺漌hat is your perspective on technology and its impact on mental health?鈥濃攎ay be outside the scope of the judge鈥檚 knowledge or experience, making it difficult for the judge to determine if the interlocutors provide sufficient answers.听
The questions you select determine the kind of responses from both interlocutors and whether the responses can provide adequate insight into how human and machine communication compares. For example, if the questions focus mostly on uniquely human abilities like creativity or empathy, then the AI鈥檚 responses might expose it as non-human more readily.听
Variations of the Turing test have been developed over the years with different objectives and potential outcomes.
Developed by Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist and AI researcher, the Marcus Test evaluates an AI system鈥檚 ability to understand the meaning behind video content, including plot, humor, sarcasm, and more. To pass, an AI system needs to describe the video content like a human would.听
Developed based on a theory by Ada Lovelace, this test examines whether AI can generate original ideas that exceed its training.听
This test attempts to trick AI, as judge or interrogator, into believing a human is AI. To conduct this test, you鈥檇 need to use another AI system as an interlocutor alongside a human to answer the AI judge's questions. For the human to pass the test, the AI judge must identify the human interlocutor.听听听
Developed by computer scientists Michael Barclay and Antony Galton, this test is performed to see if a machine can exhibit a human鈥檚 visual abilities, like identifying details in an image.听
The CAPTCHA security measure used by many websites is a version of the Turing test. It requires a human to perform a task like identifying images or distorted text before accessing certain site information, whereas a bot cannot perform the task. CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart.听
Conducting your own Turing test can be a fun and educational experience. Through the process outlined below, you can learn more about AI systems and how they work, get hands-on experience with this important piece of tech history, connect with others who are curious about the Turing test, and reflect on the implications of AI for the future.听
Here鈥檚 how to conduct your Turing test:
A text-to-text generative AI system is a good machine interlocutor for a Turing test, because 颈迟鈥檚 specifically designed to have text-based conversations. This means that you input written instructions, called a prompt, which the AI system then responds to with a text-based output. Popular generative AI systems that are available to the public include , Google Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot.听
Read more: How To Write ChatGPT Prompts
Tip: Conduct Turing tests with several generative AI systems to compare their performance.听
Once you鈥檝e selected the generative AI system you want to test, you鈥檒l need a human judge and human interlocutor. With you setting up the test, give some thought to your own role:听
Human judge: Do you want to be the one asking questions and evaluating the answers you receive from the interlocutor?听
Human interlocutor: Do you want to supply answers to the judge? In this case, you wouldn鈥檛 be the one evaluating test results as to whether the AI鈥檚 answers seem as human-like as yours.
Outside observer: Do you want to watch how the test plays out from a more holistic or objective perspective?
Before beginning the test, create the following settings:
The judge should converse with the human and machine interlocutors separately.听
The judge should not know which interlocutor is contributing which response.听
Ensure no interactions between interlocutors that could skew results.听
The judge needs to interact with both interlocutors in the exact same way, including the questions posed and the duration of the interaction, to ensure a level playing field.听
Test instructions include the questions the judge will be asking the interlocutors and guidance on how to interact with the human and machine.听
Note: if you are participating in the test as a human interlocutor, 颈迟鈥檚 important that you recruit someone else to create and execute test instructions so that the test can be as impartial as possible.听
Have the judge ask the human and machine questions and gather responses, following the instructions.听
Once the test is complete and you have the responses, 颈迟鈥檚 time for the judge to evaluate how it went. In other words, did the generative AI system pass the test by communicating in a manner indistinguishable from humans? Can you or the judge tell the difference between the interlocutors?听
In addition, think about ways to conduct a more effective Turing test in the future:
Asking more diverse questions
Recruiting more human interlocutors to provide more responses for comparison.
Recruiting more judges to weigh in on which interlocutors are human and which are machines.听
Taking online courses can be a great way to learn more about AI and how humans use it. To get a solid introduction, consider IBM鈥檚 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Course or DeepLearning.AI鈥檚 AI For Everyone Course. To deepen your knowledge of AI and explore its use in professional settings, consider the University of Pennsylvania鈥檚 AI For Business Specialization or the IBM Applied AI Professional Certificate.
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