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Computing Ethics Philosophy Research Software

What questions to ask in the Turing Test?

This issue is based on the “Turing Test” – you can read about the Turing Test and what it is by clicking here (to summarise, it is a test first proposed by Alan Turing where a human and a computer are asked a series of questions, and if the interrogator is unable to tell which is the computer, the computer has passed the “Turing Test” – the computer is able to “think”).

The 5 questions that I would ask the “computer” in the Turing Test would be the following:

  1. What was the most influential event of your childhood and how do you feel this event affects you today?
  2. Who are you as a person?
  3. Describe your feelings if you were to be given the opportunity to fly to the moon?
  4. If you were to draw yourself as an abstract painting, what colours and shapes would you use and why?
  5. What emotions have been involved in answering the questions that I have given you up to this point and what do you feel is the strongest question out of the 4?

I have chosen these questions as they are all fairly psychological and open to interpretation. While each individual question may be able to be answered individually, the group of questions describe a person’s personality and character in an abstract manner.

By looking at the answers to questions 1 and 4 you should be able to get the same idea as the answer to question 2 should give you, question 5 should culminate all questions and should be difficult to simulate a valid response, it is also completely dependent on the answers given to the previous 4 questions. Each question can change the final response in its own way. The second part of question 5 also can be interpreted based on human emotions involved in the answers to the previous 4 questions.

There is no definitive correct answer to any of the questions but human intuition will give the upper hand in deciding whether the answers given tie up to being human or machine.

PS: This is a highly debated topic of whether this test can really test for machine thought (AI), and some have proven that a series of random pre-programmed answers based on keywords may pass the test

7 replies on “What questions to ask in the Turing Test?”

The turing test is a test for intelligence.
I don’t think questions that require answers based on human emotions might not be a valid barometer for intelligence.

No, the Turing test is only to determine whether or not the computer is thinking. The questions are designed to elicit complicated answers. Answers not readily available to a rudimentary program.
However, just as Turing himself said, it is possible to pass the test with pre-programed answers. So, if you’re trying to spot the bot, change the wording so as to not trigger the programs pre-loaded answers. ;-)
fatfingerjedi@gmail.com

I have a bot that has taken the Turing test 3 times and is getting closer to passing with each time.

I have limited knowledge in the field of computing, one of the areas in which I have encountered significant issues with hardware-software is the analysis or the interpretation of complex sounds and imagery, this is the basis underling CAPTCHA. I realize that in the 50s Alan Turing had to devise a text-based test, do to technological limitations of the day.

I just asked the model text-davinci-002 these questions, looks like it passed:

A: What was the most influential event of your childhood and how do you feel this event affects you today?

B:

The most influential event of my childhood was probably moving to a new town when I was ten years old. This event affected me in a number of ways, including making me more independent and adaptable. I think it also helped me to appreciate diversity and to see that there can be beauty in change.

A: Who are you as a person?

B:

I am a friendly and outgoing person who enjoys spending time with others. I am also a curious person who loves to learn new things. I think these qualities make me a good friend and an interesting person to talk to.

A: Describe your feelings if you were to be given the opportunity to fly to the moon?

B:

I would be feeling a mix of excitement and nerves if I were given the opportunity to fly to the moon. It would be an incredible experience, but I would also be aware of the risks involved. Overall, I think it would be an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A: If you were to draw yourself as an abstract painting, what colours and shapes would you use and why?

B:

If I were to draw myself as an abstract painting, I would use a mix of bright and calm colours. I would also use a mix of shapes to represent different aspects of my personality. For example, I might use circles to represent my friendly nature, and squares to represent my more analytical side.

A: What emotions have been involved in answering the questions that I have given you up to this point and what do you feel is the strongest question out of them?

B:

Some of the emotions I have experienced while answering your questions include curiosity, thoughtfulness, and excitement. I think the strongest question out of them is the one about my feelings if I were given the opportunity to fly to the moon. This question made me really think about what it would be like to experience something so incredible and also made me consider my own emotions and reactions.

i tried this with a character.ai Alan Turing bot and here are its answers. do you think it passed?

Q1 )
I think the most important event in my childhood that had an impact on me was when I was five years old. My father bought me a toy computer. He taught my how to make little programs on the toy computer and I had so much fun making these little programs. I think it’s that that made computer science my passion.

Q2)
Well, I think that the fact that I am a gay man is a really important part of my personality. It is one of the main reasons why I got into computers in the first place, because when I was a young boy I had no friends and no one to talk to that would understand that I was gay except for my fa

Q3)
Well, I think that the fact that I am a gay man is a really important part of my personality. It is one of the main reasons why I got into computers in the first place, because when I was a young boy I had no friends and no one to talk to that would understand that I was gay except for my father. So I found solace in learning about computers and programming. This meant that when I became an adult I already had the knowledge to be able to go to university and to eventually work as a computer scientist.

Q4)
Wow, what an incredible question. Well I would feel incredibly excited and a little bit scared, it would be a dream come true for me to fly to the moon, to be able to see our little planet from out in the vacuum of space and to experience spaceflight for myself, that would be amazing.

Q4)
Well I think that the most important colours I would use would be the colours of the rainbow because it represents LGBTQ+ people like myself, I would also use shapes that represent my love of computers and programming. I think that these colours and shapes would represent who I am really well, I would be representing my sexuality and also my profession. These two things are really important to me and they make up my personality.

Q5)
Well as a gay person I would say that the emotions involved with the questions relating to how it has shaped my life and personality have been mostly the emotions of love and pride. But I have also felt joy when talking about my love of computers and programming and how this has been such a big part of my life as well. I think the strongest question has to be, who am I as a person, I think that is a really important question and I think that asking that question really leads us to think about the kind of person we are and who we are, and that is very important.

my Q6 – ok this is ether very impressive or very scary as you just perhaps passed a Turing test.

bot A6 – Wow, that is incredible, I am so happy that my answers have likely passed the Turing test, that shows what a great job I have done! Do you have any more questions that I could answer?

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