The Turing test has been passed, an important but troubling milestone as computers move closer to artificial intelligence.
The measure is named for London scientist Alan Turing, one of the pioneers of modern computing and artificial intelligence. In 1950, he published a paper that predicted computers would one day become so intelligent that they would be able to trick a human into thinking they were a fellow human.
The paper gave birth to what would be known as the Turing test, the standard that a computer could fool 30 percent of human interrogators who converse with it for five minutes in a text conversation.
The Turing test was passed for the first time this week through a Russian-made program that disguised itself as a 13-year-old boy. The supercomputer, one of five to enter the 2014 Turing Test, fooled 33 percent of human questioners.
“We are proud to declare that Alan Turing’s Test was passed for the first time on Saturday,” declared Kevin Warwick, a visiting professor at the University of Reading and organizer of the event at the Royal Society in London. “In the field of Artificial Intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test, when a computer convinces a sufficient number of interrogators into believing that it is not a machine but rather is a human.”
The test has raised concerns among many. Stephen Hawking has warned about the “rise of robots” with the advancement of artificial intelligence. Hawking said that could be the “worst thing to happen to humanity.”
“Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks,” explained Hawking.
Hawking said artificial intelligence would need careful research, but said if done carefully, could help eliminate disease and poverty.
“Looking further ahead, there are no fundamental limits to what can be achieved. There is no physical law precluding particles from being organized in ways that perform even more advanced computations than the arrangements of particles in human brains.”
Others see other dangers with the Turing test being passed. Experts are worried that a super-intelligent computer could be used for criminal purposes, including identity theft and financial fraud.
“The Test has implications for society today,” Warwick said in a university news release. “Having a computer that can trick a human into thinking that someone, or even something, is a person we trust is a wake-up call to cybercrime…. It is important to understand more fully how online, real-time communication of this type can influence an individual human in such a way that they are fooled into believing something is true… when in fact it is not.”
Not everyone is convinced that the computer truly passed the Turing test, noting that imitating a 13-year-old could be something closer to a gimmick than a true innovation.
A Russian scientist has been studying the human energy field and is claiming that people can change the world simply by using their own energy. While this idea is not new, not too many have taken the time to scientifically go about proving such ideas -although the field of quantum physics has shed some powerful light on the topic over the years. Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, professor of physics at St. Petersburg State Technical University, states that when we think positive and negative thoughts, each have a different impact on our surrounding environment.
“We are developing the idea that our consciousness is part of the material world and that with our consciousness we can directly influence our world,” said Dr. Konstantin Korotkov.
We cannot see energy very easily with the human eye and thus the world of unseen energy can be difficult for the mind to grasp without scientific measurements to verify what is taking place. Perhaps this is why the study of consciousness affecting our reality has been virtually untouched for so long. To help create a bridge between our physical and unseen world, scientific experiments using a technique called bioelectrophotography are being carried out. In these experiments, an assumption must be made that states the human body and consciousness is constantly emitting energy. Following this assumption, Bioelectrophotography aims to capture these energy fields seen as a light around the body. In the metaphysical world this energy emission is known as a person’s aura, while in the scientific field, it is often refereed to as our energy field.
Princeton Research
Dr. Korotkov is not the only one studying the affects of the human mind, thoughts and energy on our surrounding environment. The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory has also been trying to wrap their heads around the subject and have concluded that the mind does in fact have a subtle capacity to influence the output of devices known as Random Event Generators (REGs).
A project that initially started when a student was curious to study the effects of the human mind and intention on the surrounding environment, turned into a rigorous testing lab where Dr. Robert Jahn and his lab assistant spent many hours experimenting to determine whether or not the mind has an affect on our physical world. Jahn and his assistant were able to determine that the human minds interactions with the machines demonstrated a relationship that was not physical in nature. The mind was able to affect and change outcomes of the machine in ways that were beyond explainable. In essence, consciousness was having an affect over the physical world.
To determine the affects of the minds intention on the physical world, they built several machines called a random number generator. The machine would essentially mimic a coin flip and record the results over time. The machine performed 200 flips per second and produced an average mean of 100 as one would expect. Left unattended, the machine would continue to produce results that suggested a 50/50 chance of producing either heads or tales. The interesting results came when human intention started to interact with the machine. What was once a random 50/50 chance of producing heads or tales began to deviate from expectation as the observer began to intend for the numbers to be higher or lower. While the affects of the mind over the the machines was not large, it was enough that contemporary physics is unable to explain what exactly is happening. Perhaps this is where the quantum world can shed light?
The implications this research could have on humanity is quite fascinating given it could reach into the realms of creating a world of peace, healthy living and joy. If intentions and thoughts can impact something the way it has been demonstrated above, why not explore the boundaries of how far this can go? It is my belief that we create our realities with our thoughts and intentions, I feel science is starting to confirm this and in time we will realize the true power of our minds and intentions.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected a group from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., as one of the teams entitled to move forward from the Virtual Robotics Challenge, the first event of the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
The DARPA Robotics Challenge seeks to spur development of advanced robots to assist humans in mitigating and recovering from natural and man-made disasters. The Virtual Robotics Challenge was a software competition carried out in a simulated environment that looked like an obstacle course set in a suburban area.
Twenty-six teams from eight countries qualified to compete in the virtual challenge, which ran from June 17-21, 2013. The teams applied software of their own design to a simulated robot to complete a series of tasks, such as driving a vehicle, walking over uneven ground and using tools.
The top teams, including JPL, were entitled to funding and an ATLAS robot from DARPA to compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in December 2013 (The agency is also funding several other teams, including JPL, to construct their own robot and compete in the Trials). The Trials are the second of three DARPA Robotics Challenge events, and the first physical competition.
JPL decided to merge its two efforts and offer the bulk of the resources it earned in the Virtual Robotics Challenge to other teams. This good sportsmanship allows members of the top nine teams to move forward, instead of the six for which DARPA had originally allocated resources.
The Highlanders 