Are computers intelligent?
Defining intelligence is notoriously difficult and psychologists now think that there are lots of different aspects to it including social, logical, creative, emotional and practical intelligence.
So how can we tell if a computer is intelligent? One of the most famous tests was developed by Alan Turing in the 1950s. Turing said that if a computer could fool a person into believing that it was human, then it should be classed as intelligent. So far, no computer has passed the Turing Test, but each year, developers compete for the Loebner prize for the most humanlike computer ‘chatterbot’. You can have a chat with two recent winners George and Joan.
As you’ll see, even these prize winners are some way off passing the Turing test.
Find related websites for artificial intelligence with physics.org.