Note: [1] This is an extended and amended version of a lecture delivered on October 8, 1997, in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The lecture was given in the framework of the Dr. J. Tans lectures, a series of annual lectures named after one of the founders of the Universiteit Maastricht. We kindly acknowledge the preparedness of Studium Generale Maastricht to allow an (enriched) reproduction of the lecture in the ICCA Journal. The lecture has been published as booklet under the same title, with ISBN 90 80338524.
Note: [*] Tufts University, Centre of Cognitive Studies, Medford, MA 02155-7059, USA. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The question “Can Machines Think?” has always intrigued researchers and philosophers. Last year the question revived when Deep Blue played Kasparov, but Kasparov then held his ground. However, recently Deep Blue defeated the World Champion, and so the question became really acute. This article attempts to define a suitable sword-in-the-stone test, equally valid for computers and humanity. The following tests are successively discussed: the Chess Test, the Turing Test, and the Gödel Test. The Chess Test is considered to be obsolete after Kasparov’s defeat. The Turing Test is illustrated by providing background on the Loebner Prize Competitions. Its restricted version is a problematic sword-in-the-stone test; its unrestricted version is certainly not a test that any machine is going to pass any time in the foreseeable future. Finally, the Gödel Test is discussed.
DOI: 10.3233/ICG-1997-20402
Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 215-223, 1997
