Article

This is an original article as printed in the Guardian Weekly which is suitable for advanced comprehension classes written by Esther Addley.

A group of researchers met at Reading University in England last month to seek to narrow the intellectual gap between humans and computers. They were competing for the annual Loebner prize awarded to the computer software that comes closest to mimicking a human.

While the winning program fooled three out of the 12 judges, this was not enough to achieve one of computing's greatest challenges, the Turing test, and to prove to some at least that machines can think for themselves.

The Turing test is inspired by British mathematician Alan Turing, best known for his code-breaking work during the second world war, who wrote in 1950 that "if, during text-based conversation, a machine is indistinguishable from a human, then it could be said to be 'thinking', and therefore could be attributed with intelligence".

Kevin Warwick, Reading's controversial professor of cybernetics, who oversaw last month's experiment, claimed in the mid-1990s that by 2045 computers would have taken over the world and enslaved humanity. The experiment, he hoped, would demonstrate that that day was coming.

But if computers are indeed to take over the world, they are unlikely to do so by winning people over with the kind of conversational skills on show last month.

A small group of volunteers took turns, in five-minute sessions, to conduct simultaneous typed conversations with two unseen respondents - one a human sitting in a next-door room, the other a computer program. If 30% of the volunteers could be fooled, by Turing's own measure, the test would be said to have been passed.

The winning program, designed by an American and called Elbot, fooled 25% of respondents - "We really, really have come very close," said Warwick afterwards.

Warwick insists that Turing's test will be passed within two to three years, leading to innovations ranging from improved automated call-centre technology to increasingly interactive home appliances. "Maybe instead of 35 years [until we are enslaved by computers] we've got 40 years. It could all be a little bit slower, that's all," Warwick added.

If the computers in room G05 had any thoughts on the matter, they were keeping their counsel.

Glossary

indistinguishable

(adjective) when it is not possible to see the difference between one thing and another

cybernetics

(noun) the scientific study of the way that information is controlled in machines and the brain

innovation

(noun) a new invention, method or idea

keep one's counsel

(expression) to keep your opinions secret

Questions

The questions below are divided into three groups - before, during and after reading the above article.

Before reading

The article is about computers imitating human conversation. Work with a partner and discuss the questions below.

1. Have you ever had a "conversation" with a computer? If yes, what was the situation? For example: bookin a cinema ticket on an automated phone system.
2. Which parts of human conversation can computers easily copy? For example simple answers or everyday questions.
3. Which parts of human conversation are difficult for computers to copy? For example: respondin to or telling jokes.

Verbs from the article. Complete the defintions which follow with the verbs - demonstrate, fool, mimic, narrow, oversee, seek, take over

1. If you ___ a person, you copy or imitate them.
2. If you ___ the world, you gain control of it.
3. If you ___ a person, you trick them into believing something that is not true.
4. If you ___ a groups of workers, you are in charge of them and you check their work.
5. If you ___ to do a new thing, you try to do it.
6. If you ___ the gap between two things, you make it smaller.
7. If you ___ something, you show or prove it clearly by giving evidence.

While reading

Look at the headline and read the first five paragraphs of the article. Decide if the following senmtences are tru (T) or false (F). Correct the false sentences.

1. The competition for the Loebner prize took place at an English university.
2. The Loebner prize is given to the computer software that is best at copying a human.
3. The winning program convinced all the judges that it was human.
4. The prize-winning program passed the Turing test.
5. The Turing test takes its name from a British code-breaker and mathematician.
6. To pass the Turing test a computer must be similar to a human in a text-based conversation.
7. Kevin Warwick believes that computers wioll take over the world.

Read the rest of the article. Write the correct numbers next to these statements.

1. The percentage of people to be fooled, for a program to pass the Turing test. ___
2. The number of years in which the TYuring test might be achieved. ___
3. The number of years before computers will enslave humans, according to Prof Warwick's latest thinking. ___
4. The number of minutes that each conversation lasted in the test. ___
5. The percentage of people fooled by the program that won the Loebner prize. ___
6. The number of respondents that each volunteer interacted with. ___

Can you tyell the difference between a human and a machine? Read the two conversations at the end of the Observer article about the Loebner prize competition. Decide which conversation is with a computer program.

After reading

Vocabulary from the article. Find words from the first five paragraphs to mkatch the definitions below and add them to the grid. Find the word that runs down through all the words. Put the verbs in base form.

To succeed in reaching a particular goal A person (rather than an animal or machine) A space between two things Not probable To make somebody a slave A person who investigates or studies something Happening once a year A person who decides who has won a competition A scientific test

Activity

Professor Kevin Warwick has made a number of predictions about the future. What do you think about the ideas below? Make brief notes, then discuss your opinions with a partner.

1. By 2045 computers will have become more intelligent than humans and they will have taken over the world.
2. Copmuters will enslave people and they might treat humans in the same way that humans treat animals. For example, they may put humans in farms or zoos.
3. By 2100 humans will be able to communicate by thought signals alone. They will be able to think to each other using implants in their nervous system.