Princeton University
Computer Science Department

Computer Science 345
The Efficient Universe

Avi Wigderson

Spring 2006

Intelligence

General Information   |   Is This Course for Me?

Read a dictionary definition. Do you agree with it? Can you suggest revisions?

Do you believe computers can even exhibit intelligence?

Turing Test

The "Turing Test" suggests how to test a program/computer/robot X for intelligence. You get to interact (via keyboard and screen, say) with one of the following two:

  1. the program X
  2. an intelligent human Y
which of the two you interact with is chosen randomly with a coin flip. Your task is to discover which of the two you are interacting with. The program X is deemed intelligent if you can't do so with probability much greater than 1/2 (over a number of experiments of this sort).

Do you agree that this test certifies intelligence? If not, can you suggest different tests? What would you ask if you participated in this test?