He made major contributions to mathematics, logic, cryptanalysis, philosophy, and to absolutely new areas later named computer science, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. A British mathematician and logician, code-breaker and inventor, thinker, sportsman, but also a victim of inhumanity — his name is Alan Turing.
This is the man who cracked Enigma and helped save Britain from defeat in the sinister days of 1941, who gave birth to modern computer science and predicted artificial intelligence, even offering empirical evidence for machines’ ability to think.
Thanks to the film with Benedict Cumberbatch, we know about the events around Enigma, but very little else from his biography. Here are some stories about Alan Turing that could’ve become sources for a Netflix drama series.
Before Computers
Without Turing, we never would have had the thin, classy laptops sitting on Starbucks tables we have today. We might even call him the godfather of modern computers.
In 1936, in order to investigate the extent of what can be computed, Turing described an abstract machine that could simulate any computer algorithm. According to Turing, it would operate on an infinite memory tape divided into cells and act just like a modern memory storage. The cells may contain only two symbols (1 or 0) or stay blank. The machine would perform basic operations, simultaneously reading the symbol, editing it, and moving the tape left or right by one square. This simple model formed the theoretical foundations of modern computer science.
Of course, Turing machines weren’t the only model that played an important role in informatics and computer development. Nevertheless, this concept remains relevant even today. Indeed, when one of the foundational papers of computational complexity theory was published in 1965, the multitape Turing machine became the standard model for the modern computer.
Great Meetings and Debates
Sometimes, history organizes crossovers that are much more compelling than fiction books or movies. In 1939, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was conducting a series of lectures on the foundations of mathematics at Cambridge, which the British mathematician attended. Turing couldn’t pass up the opportunity to debate the ontology of mathematics with the Austrian philosopher.
What exact topics did they discuss? We only know that they were pointing out the differences in their approaches to the philosophy of the mind. The main issue, however, was the foundations of mathematics and logic. This meeting had not only mathematical or scientific significance, but also a philosophical one. With respect to classical foundational arguments, Turing and Wittgenstein shared the attitude that they prescind from ideological positions. They agreed on what logic is by focusing on what it is for.
Their disputes were civil, not metaphysical or principled. They debated how best to understand the idea of a “common sense” or “naive” standpoint on mathematics, in particular, Turing’s 1936 analysis of the general notion of a formal system. Yet, they influenced one another.
The Runner
Alan Turing was an excellent runner and had been since his days at Sherbourne School. During his fellowship at King’s College, he began to run regularly. The more than 30 miles from Cambridge to Ely and back were his normal distance. Such training was helping him to relieve stress. Turing preferred his feet to sitting on public transport and sometimes ran to London for meetings, although the distance was more than 40 miles — double that of a marathon. After the war, he started training as a marathon runner and in 1946, he won his first race, a three-mile track title with a time of 15:37.8. That was pretty impressive for a 33-year-old amateur. Just after two years of training, Alan Turing ran a qualifying marathon for the 1948 Olympics in 2:46. His result was just 11 minutes slower than that of one of the Olympic Marathon winners. Only a leg injury ruined his plans that year. Later, Turing returned to run and joined the Walton Athletic Club. He won his last run in April 1950 as part of the Walton relay team in the London to Brighton race.
Artificial Intelligence Prophet
When computers were no longer in the realm of fantasy, it became easy to predict the idea of a computer intellect. One day, a computer would be able to think just like a human.
In 1950, Turing described the concept of “artificial intelligence” (this term, however, emerged two years after his death) in his paper “Computer Machinery and Intelligence”;. The key question of his concept was, “can machines think?” As he was developing it, the mathematician decided to turn the table on the skeptics and proposed the “imitation game,” or the Turing Test. The idea is that a machine should fool a human interrogator into thinking it’s another human during the conversation. If the questioner cannot determine that he or she is speaking with a machine, the computer would be considered thinking. Turing was sure that the human brain is, in large part, a digital computing machine.
The imitation game should have become empirical evidence for a machine’s ability think. However, there are many aspects of humanity that the test neglects, which is why several researchers have devised new variations of the Turing Test that aren’t about the capacity to hold a plausible conversation. The Turing Test has been referenced many times in pop culture, perhaps most notably inspiring the polygraph-like Voight-Kampff Test in the movie Blade Runner.
Unjust Conviction
In 1951, Turing’s house was burglarized. The burglar, as Turing suspected, was connected to a nineteen-year-old boy belonging to the poor working class, who he had relations with a month previously. Probably, the burglar was sure that a homosexual would never go to the police, as homosexuality was considered a crime and punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. But Turing went.
Eventually, the mathematician was compelled to tell the cause of his suspicions and the details of the incident. As a result, he was charged with “gross indecency.” The judge knew nothing of Turing’s activity during the Second World War, as it was classified information, but Turing avoided prison only by agreeing to hormone treatments, a kind of chemical castration.
Twelve months of therapy affected Turing in an incredibly negative way. Every day he sank further and further into depression.
“Although unable to tell his friends about questions of official secrecy, in other ways he actively sought much greater intimacy of expression with them and with a Jungian therapist. Eccentric, solitary, gloomy, vivacious, resigned, angry, eager, dissatisfied — these had always been his ever-varying characteristics, and despite the strength that he showed the world in coping with outrageous fortune, no-one could safely have predicted his future course.”
Andrew Hodges, 1995
His housekeeper found Turing dead in his home on June 8, 1954, at the age of 42. A half-eaten poisoned apple was found beside his bed. We know that the 1937 Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had made an impression on Turing. His friends said that he was particularly charmed by the witch’s couplet, “Dip the apple in the brew, let the sleeping death seep through.” Therefore, conspiracy theories appeared.
While the official version was an apparent suicide, Turing’s mother was sure that he had accidentally ingested cyanide from his fingers after a chemistry experiment. At any rate, the death of one of the greatest minds in the world’s history passed unnoticed since his work was classified for decades, as was his service to the country.
Late Apology
Alan Turing was not the only famous person charged and convicted of gross indecency. This term had been in use since 1885. Another victim of the Labouchere Amendment, which criminalized gross indecency between men, was Oscar Wilde. The writer was sentenced to two years’ hard labor. Homosexuality was decriminalized only in 1967 and the UK considered Alan Turing a criminal until 2009, when the UK prime minister Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology to him. Public petition, which got more than 30 thousand signatures, provoked this decision, however, making it more symbolic than genuine. His conviction was not actually overturned until 2013, when he received a rare royal pardon from the Queen of England.
An absurd accusation, painful hormonal treatment, an early death and a late apology – this is not what Alan Turing deserved. Sometimes history is too unjust and even heroes become victims. All we can and should do is remember their names and never repeat that kind of cruelty.
