Reading Guide: Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

What's wrong with the question, "Can machines think?"

Is your hair shingled?

Do you see any problems with the "game" Turing proposes at the end of section 2?

At the end of section 3 . . . Would present-day computers do well in Turing's game? Can you imagine computers that (eventually) could? Would you say such a computer would be intelligent?

What does he mean by "human computer"?

Compare Turing's remarks at the end of section 4 with Chalmers' notion of organizational invariance.

What is Turing's purpose in section 5?

Evaluate Turing's predictions at the beginning of section 6.

Do you accept Turing's response to objection 4? objection 6?

Do you agree with the significance Turing ascribes to objection 9? Do you know what I think about it?

Compare Turing's discussion of the "child machine" with Davis's discussion of evolution and engineering.

What sort of comparison is Turing making with the U.S. Constitution near the end of the article? Do you think his analogy is a solid one?