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The Turing Test: What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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What does it mean to be human? While the subject matter of the course is concerned with the intimacies that develop with different types of robots, much of the discussion leads to our developing understanding of human consciousness. In the roots of this relationship between robotic and human consciousness is the Turing Test, which is used to test the intelligence of robots in the aim of being indistinguishable from humans. Author Janis Svilpis analyzes Alan Turing’s test in relation to works of science fiction, making the claim that science fiction dialogue and narratives predate the test founded in the 1950s, and open further considerations in robotic intimacies (449). The author begins by introducing the first version of the test in relation to a human “imitation game,” which includes an isolated man (A), a women (B), and an interrogator (C), who are communicating through text messages in the effort to identify the sex of ‘A’ (Svilpis 430). Svilpis shows how science fiction works like Greg Egan’s “Learning To Be Me” (1990) resemble and critique the Turing …show more content…

In the final short story “The Evitable Conflict,” the robots are presented as being able to do less harm than human beings in areas like the workplace and the economy (Asimov 270). If one is to accept Svilpis’ theory that science fiction is the “literature for ideas,” it is plausible that humans may reach a similar conclusion. This has been a recurring theme in lecture, as many of my colleagues have referred to robots as being more efficient in the workplace, and preventing less health risks like food contamination. However, there can be consequences to the superiority debate, as babysitting robots like “NanaBot,” showed in lecture, have the potential to hinder emotional intimacy like family connections and social

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