Alan Turing Quotes

A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.
ALAN TURING

Believe Human Intelligence Technology
Science is a differential equation. Religion is a boundary condition.
ALAN TURING

Boundary Mathematics Religion Science
Mathematical reasoning may be regarded.
ALAN TURING

Mathematics Reason
Up to a point, it is better to just let the snags [bugs] be there than to spend such time in design that there are none.
ALAN TURING

Design Technology Time
Instead of trying to produce a programme to simulate the adult mind, why not rather try to produce one which simulates the child’s? If this were then subjected to an appropriate course of education one would obtain the adult brain.
ALAN TURING

Children Education Mindset Technology
I’m afraid that the following syllogism may be used by some in the future. Turing believes machines think Turing lies with men Therefore machines do not think Yours in distress, Alan.
ALAN TURING

Future Lie Myself Scare Yourself
My little computer said such a funny thing this morning.
ALAN TURING

Funny Morning Technology
I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted.
ALAN TURING

Believe Education End Expectation Oneself Thinking Word
Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.
ALAN TURING

Believe Imagination Inspirational Motivational People
Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes hollow.
ALAN TURING

Act Feeling Goodness People Satisfaction Violence
We are not interested in the fact that the brain has the consistency of cold porridge.
ALAN TURING

Food Human Technology
These disturbing phenomena [Extra Sensory Perception] seem to deny all our scientific ideas. How we should like to discredit them! Unfortunately the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming.
ALAN TURING

Evidence Ideas Science
One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each other, “My little computer said such a funny thing this morning”.
ALAN TURING

Funny Future Morning Technology Walk Woman
Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.
ALAN TURING

Greatness Myself Science Technology
A very large part of space-time must be investigated, if reliable results are to be obtained.
ALAN TURING

Result Space Time
We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.
ALAN TURING

Distance Need Travel Work
A man provided with paper, pencil, and rubber, and subject to strict discipline, is in effect a universal machine.
ALAN TURING

Discipline Education Men
The original question, ‘Can machines think?’ I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion.
ALAN TURING

Believe Deserve Technology Thinking
No, I’m not interested in developing a powerful brain.
ALAN TURING

Development Myself Powerful
We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields.
ALAN TURING

Competition Hope Intellectual Men Technology
Codes are a puzzle. A game, just like any other game.
ALAN TURING

Game Technology
No, I’m not interested in developing a powerful brain. All I’m after is just a mediocre brain, something like the President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
ALAN TURING

Development Myself Powerful
Programming is a skill best acquired by practice and example rather than from books.
ALAN TURING

Book Practice Skill Technology
Unless in communicating with it one says exactly what one means, trouble is bound to result.
ALAN TURING

Communication Computer Funny Result Trouble
Mathematical reasoning may be regarded rather schematically as the exercise of a combination of two facilities, which we may call intuition and ingenuity.
ALAN TURING

Exercise Intuition Mathematics Reason
If a machine is expected to be infallible, it cannot also be intelligent.
ALAN TURING

Expectation Hope Intelligence Technology
The idea behind digital computers may be explained by saying that these machines are intended to carry out any operations which could be done by a human computer.
ALAN TURING

Carry Explanation Human Ideas Technology

Famous Mathematicians