Eugene Goostman and the Turing Test

The Turing Test is a test of artificial intelligence. This blind test is considered successful if a computer program can fool a set of judges more than thirty percent of the time into believing that they are interacting online with a human being, and not a machine.

Recently, the University of Reading claimed that the Turing Test was passed for the first time by a computer “chatterbot” program that simulates a thirteen-year-old Ukrainian boy named Eugene Goostman. You can read more about the simulation here. A Time magazine “interview” with Eugene appears here, and you can even chat with Eugene yourself by following this link*. Would Eugene have fooled you?

*Note that Eugene’s recent fame has increased his popularity, so the site may be a little slow to load or respond, at first.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat