Alternatives to the Turing Test

Question

asked Jul 6, 2019 in AI and Deep Learning by ashely (50.2k points)

So we learned a bit about the Turing Test in my AI class. This got me thinking about it. I can see a few limitations with it:

It's limited to a certain context. What if I'm not designing an AI to converse with humans?
It favors acting humanly over acting rationally. For example, if I'm designing an AI to control nuclear missiles, do I really want it to act human? Granted, this is an extreme example, but you get the idea.
It could be influenced by factors that don't indicate that the computer can think humanly. For example, suppose I ask what 2334 * 321 is. I could tell if the device is a computer because it will probably answer me fairly quickly while a human would have to figure it out. The solution? Make the computer pause.

Now, I'm sure that the Turing Test still has its place in determining machine intelligence. But I see it as being fairly limited in scope. Are there any alternatives? For that matter, am I wrong as to what I perceive to be its limitations?

EDIT: Let me be clear: I'm not suggesting that the Turing Test should be abandoned. I'm just curious if there are any other tests that overcome its limitations (probably trading them for other limitations).

1 Answer

vinita · Answer 1 · 2019-07-06T13:10:48+0000

The Turing Test, which was first intended to detect human-like intelligence in a machine, is fundamentally flawed. But that doesn't mean it cannot be improved or modified further. Here are seven proposed alternatives that could help us distinguish bot from a human.

1. Winograd Schema Challenge

2. The Marcus Test

3. The Lovelace Test 2.0

4. The Construction Challenge

5. The Visual Turing Test

6. The Reverse Turing Test

7. Digital Dissection

Turing Test is not meant to be a judge of the quality of an AI algorithm, but rather the success of an AI algorithm meant to simulate human intelligence. if we can able to design an AI algorithm to pass this test, then we can say that we are able with AI to develop machines with human intelligence.

It's reasonable to assume that there are other tests that would be equally sufficient, but this test is elegant in its simplicity and relative lack of constraints.