THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY March 18, 2003 Turing Test
______________ SPONSORED BY: Free white papers for CIOs Download the key papers you need today to make better-informed decisions. Targeted categories include: Management and strategy, service providers, industry-specific applications, and e-business technology. Click here to access the free SearchCIO.com white papers section http://searchcio.techtarget.com/whitepapers3/0,,sid19,00.html ________________ TODAY'S WORD: Turing test See our complete definition with hyperlinks at http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci886577,00.html In artificial intelligence (AI), the Turing Test (also called the imitation game) is a method for determining whether or not a computer is capable of thinking like a human. The test is named after Alan Turing, an English mathematician who pioneered artificial intelligence during the 1940s and 1950s, and who is credited with devising the original version of the test. Turing felt that a computer could be said to possess artificial intelligence if it was able to mimic human responses under specific conditions. In Turing's test, if the human conducting the test is unable to consistently determine whether an answer has been given by a computer or by another human being, then the computer is considered to have "passed" the test. In the basic Turing Test, there are three terminals. Two of the terminals are operated by humans, and the third terminal is operated by a computer. Each terminal is physically separated from the other two. One human is designated as the questioner. The other human and the computer are designated the respondents. The questioner interrogates both the human respondent and the computer according to a specified format, within a certain subject area and context, and for a preset length of time (such as 10 minutes). After the specified time, the questioner tries to decide which terminal is operated by the human respondent, and which teminal is operated by the computer. The test is repeated many times. If the questioner makes the correct determination in half of the test runs or less, the computer is considered to have artificial intelligence, because the questioner regards it as "just as human" as the human respondent. Turing Tests have been criticized, in particular because the nature of the questioning must be limited in order for a computer to exhibit human-like intelligence. For example, a computer might score high when the questioner formulates the queries so they have "Yes" or "No" answers and pertain to a narrow field of knowledge, such as mathematical number theory. If response to questions of a broad-based, conversational nature, however, a computer would not be expected to perform like a human being. This is especially true if the subject is emotionally charged or socially sensitive. In some specialized instances, a computer may perform so much better and faster than a human that the questioner can easily tell which is which. Google, Yahoo, and AltaVista are examples of computer applications that can consistently outperform a human in a Turing Test based on information searches. RELATED TERMS: artificial intelligence http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci211597,00.html terminal http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci213122,00.html ______________ SELECTED LINKS: Abelard.org discusses Turing's original proposal and discusses its relevance to today's computers. http://www.abelard.org/turpap/turpap.htm David Barberi proposes the "Ultimate Turing Test." http://www.ibiblio.org/dbarberi/vr/ultimate-turing/ ______________ TODAY'S TECH NEWS: MICROSOFT TO MAP OUT AUTONOMIC COMPUTING STRATEGY At this week's Microsoft Management Summit, Redmond will go public with the details of its Dynamic Systems Initiative, which will eventually spread autonomic computing to every part of the Windows empire. http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci886334,00.html AMID CONVERGENCE, ALCATEL TOUTS CARRIER-CLASS NETWORKS As voice, data, video and storage converge on IP networks, a principal technologist with Alcatel says enterprises will be pushed toward carrier-class infrastructures to ensure quality of service and high levels of bandwidth and redundancy. http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci886352,00.html SNIA TAKES OPEN MANAGEMENT TO THE NEXT LEVEL The Storage Networking Industry Association is entering "phase two" of its Storage Management Initiative program. The SMI holds the key to open storage management based on the CIM and WBEM specifications. http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid5_gci886309,00.html >> Catch up on all the latest IT news at http://searchtechtarget.techtarget.com/ ______________________ KNOW-IT-ALL QUESTION | Do you speak geek? In a Windows environment, domain users might try to connect to a Windows 2000 server that is a member of the same domain, only to be asked for their credentials (user IDs/passwords) before they can access the server. This is most likely due to: a. The password having been changed by a hacker b. An AD tree accessing an outdated user profile c. The administrator changing the user's rights and privileges d. A duplicate SPN (ServicePrincipalName) value in the AD tree >> See correct answer http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci872560,00.html ______________________ QUIZ #36 | Linux Basics Take our latest quiz and see how much you know about Linux. Make Linus Torvalds proud! >> Click to take the quiz http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid39_gci882525,00.html ______________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS AND UPDATES [1] non-geographic number http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci885964,00.html [2] Internet Key Exchange http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci884946,00.html [3] Siebel Systems http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci885481,00.html [4] BPEL http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci845110,00.html [5] Luddite http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci883880,00.html ____________________________________________________________________ ::::::::::::::::::: WHATIS.COM CONTACTS ::::::::::::::::::: LOWELL THING, Site Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ____________________________________________________________________ MARGARET ROUSE, Associate Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ___________________________________________________________________ :::::::::::::::::::: ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ::::::::::::::::::::: Published by TechTarget (http://www.techtarget.com) TechTarget - The Most Targeted IT Media Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved. 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