Alan Turing’s 9 Arguments for the Intelligence of Machines

A Debate Into the Nature of AI

Can machines think?

Yes, Alan Turing argues in his 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”.

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In his paper, Turing outlines nine rebuttals to nine arguments arguing against the intelligence of machines. Specifically, these are:

• The Theological Argument
• The Head in the Sand Argument
• The Mathematical Argument
• The Consciousness Argument
• The Various Disabilities Argument
• The Originality Argument
• The Continuity of the Nervous System Argument
• The Informality of Behavior Argument
• The Extrasensory Perception Argument

His vision, while documented in 1950, contains concepts more than applicable to the technology of today, a testament to Turing’s genius.

The Turing Test

Alan Turing acknowledges that the definition of the word ‘thinking’ can be used to argue both for and against the thinking of machines, and really is up to interpretation.

The definitions [of ‘machine’ and ‘think’] might be framed as to reflect…