Surprising Science — February 9, 2011

Computers: All Too Human

Can a computer be “more human” than a human? The march of technology isn’t just changing how we live, it’s raising new questions about what it means to be human.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Each year for the past two decades, the artificial-intelligence community has convened for the field’s most anticipated and controversial event—a meeting to confer the Loebner Prize on the winner of a competition called the Turing Test. The test is named for the British mathematician Alan Turing, one of the founders of computer science, who in 1950 attempted to answer one of the field’s earliest questions: can machines think? That is, would it ever be possible to construct a computer so sophisticated that it could actually be said to be thinking, to be intelligent, to have a mind?

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Silhouette of a person against a blue background, overlaid with white node and line networks.

Thinking

Mechanized minds: AI’s hidden impact on human thought

While we’re busy wondering whether machines will ever become conscious, we rarely stop to ask: What happens to us?

A vintage computer mainframe with multiple interconnected units, cables, and knobs, displayed in front of a red background on a wooden floor.

The Past

The love letter generator that foretold ChatGPT

Alan Turing and Christopher Strachey created a ground-breaking computer program that allowed them to express affection vicariously when so doing publicly, as gay men, was criminal.

Starts With A Bang

What was it like when human beings transformed the Earth?

Although human beings arrived on Earth just ~300,000 years ago, we’ve transformed the entire planet completely. Here’s how we did it.

A black and white photo of a man and a woman to memorize.

Neuropsych

Want to remember more? Memorize less.

To make a ton of information stick in your mind, you have to make it chunky.

A light bulb hanging on a wall with a swirl pattern.

Thinking

The worth of wild ideas

Even if a leading theory of consciousness is wrong, it can still be useful to science.

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

Successful Business’ Dirty Secret

It is a dirty little secret that even great companies have to fire the people who do not work out. It does not seem gracious or nice. But that can leave a false impression.