If you could pose a question to a Turing test candidate, what would it be?

Question

How would you distinguish the man from the machine?

"That September 11th thing was amazing, wasn't it?" - A human would get the reference, a machine is much less likely to. Generally the best way would be to pose something where you can expect a decent emotional response from a human, but where the programmer may have not thought of that situation. You look like a jackass if it is a human, though. — TZHX, Apr 01 '11 at 09:27
I believe that 70% of Earth population (incl. children adults elders and retarded, etc.) would not get that reference, and 30% would not get it even if you say it in their native language. We are not being fair to the machines. — Job, Apr 01 '11 at 15:39
@TZHX, I frankly think that the humans getting the reference mostly live in the USA. The impact on the rest of the world (and the naming of it) is much less. We also wonder why Pearl Harbor is such a big thing. — , Apr 04 '11 at 15:25
@Thorbjorn - well, no. Certainly in the UK, people would get it. I expect the majority of [western] Europeans would. Certainly anyone with even a passing interest in modern world politics would. If you termed it "9.11", then maybe I'd agree with you. Either way, it was meant as an example, not a definitive "this is the only one that could be used". I'd originally typed a "your mamma" joke, but yes... — TZHX, Apr 05 '11 at 08:01
@Thorbjorn (sorry about mispelling your name) - also, Pearl Harbor was an awful film. I can't imagine why people keep talking about it. — TZHX, Apr 05 '11 at 08:04
I was prepared to leave this open, but I think it's run its course. — ChrisF, Apr 05 '11 at 16:32
@ChrisF My NLP/AI bot thinks you are on a bit of a high horse... Care to explain how you feel http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/779/ is any more 'constructive' a question? — Brandon Frohbieter, Apr 05 '11 at 16:56
@Orbit - no. It was asked when the rules were a lot laxer. It wouldn't last now. But like old questions on Stack Overflow it's been left around. If you look hard enough you'll be able to find lots more. This question or one of it's answers was flagged - hence my interest. — ChrisF, Apr 05 '11 at 19:05
@Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen - pissed me off enough to bring it up on meta - http://meta.programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/1389/leave-constructiveness-judgement-to-community — Brandon Frohbieter, Apr 06 '11 at 20:22
@Job: How is that different from your normal daily activities? — oosterwal, May 26 '11 at 15:23
@oosterwal, It is not; for it is the answer to everything. We just do not want to admit it. — Job, May 26 '11 at 15:59
@Thorbjørn: It's because THEY don't want you to know how to tell men from machines! — Tom Anderson, Jun 20 '11 at 13:45
Note that the original Turing test proposed that the interviewer be a man, and the machine pretend to be a woman; if the man cannot tell the difference, one must assume the machine is intelligent, because the converse is not polite. — Steven A. Lowe, Sep 17 '12 at 21:08

score 51 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:24

51

I'd just ask him "If you could pose a question to a turing test candidate, what would it be?".

answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:24

Carra

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That is so good :) – Philippe Apr 01 '11 at 12:04
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I don't think it is a good question. For one thing, both "What is a Turing test?" and "I don't know" would be a perfectly legitimate answer from most humans, and a trivial choice for a machine. – Péter Török Apr 01 '11 at 12:24
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Well then you could explain what it is in simple terms, and then ask again. – Mr. Shickadance Apr 01 '11 at 12:33
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The point here is that the machine would enter an endless loop and stack overflow, hence being revealed! – Philippe Apr 01 '11 at 12:36
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@Philippe, unless it has been taught to ask difficult questions on programmers.stackexchange.com... – Apr 01 '11 at 18:25

score 36 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:24

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What is the meaning of...'); DROP TABLE Responses;

answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:24

oosterwal

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"Dave, what are you doing?" :) – Goran Jovic Apr 01 '11 at 17:28
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+1. See also http://xkcd.com/327/ "Did you really name your son `Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;`" ? – petrus Apr 02 '11 at 15:36
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@Goran, amzing! By the way, this answer characterizes the test subject quite precisely. – P Shved Apr 04 '11 at 18:03

score 24 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:24

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Humans use rapport to sniff out artifice

Essentially this means that it will always take a series of questions and subsequent analysis of the answers to establish if the anonymous entity at the end of the line is a human being or not. A single question will not achieve this.

I suppose you could ask "Will you meet me in the car park in 2 minutes?" and then see what turns up.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:24

Gary

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This is the correct answer. A Turing test involves a _conversation_ with a possible AI, not just a single question/response, which would be almost trivial to write an AI that could pass. – Cassie Dee Apr 07 '11 at 14:50

score 22 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:40

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You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:40

dcousineau

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Did you make up this question, Mr. dcousineau? =) – Jader Dias Apr 01 '11 at 16:17
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@Jader, In answer to your query, they're written down for him. – Apr 01 '11 at 18:21
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And if the answer is "Let me tell you about my mother..." then 1) it is a machine, and 2) **RUN** – rsenna Apr 01 '11 at 21:16

score 18 · Answer 5 · 2011-06-20T05:57:44.600

18

"Why are manhole covers round?"

Perhaps followed up with "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

EDIT: I've come to think of that Douglas Hofstadter has done a delightful piece on this exact subject (including the highest rated answer) and found an online version at http://www.cse.unr.edu/~sushil/class/ai/papers/coffeehouse.html. Especially the scenario where he tries to disclose Nicolai in the "Post Scriptum" section is a fantastic read. I believe I read this in Metamagical Themes.

edited Jun 20 '11 at 05:57

answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:35

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Hahahahahahaha! +1111111111111111111 – Job Apr 02 '11 at 02:49
Amazing. This should be accepted. – P Shved Apr 04 '11 at 18:05
+1 for "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" very sensible question. – Chani Jun 20 '11 at 04:30

score 11 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:39

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Challenge it to a game of "Global Thermonuclear War". Or perhaps a game of tic-tac-toe versus itself.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:39

davidhaskins

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so you saw "hackers" eh ;) – Chani Jun 20 '11 at 05:07

score 8 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 10:31

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Anything ironic. So far machines are totally incapable of interpreting jokes and irony. Although some people are too, so you may get some false negatives ;-)

answered Apr 01 '11 at 10:31

vartec

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Yes, but they would either be replicants or Americans - so either way same response. – Martin Beckett Apr 01 '11 at 23:01

score 8 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 14:02

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I'd see if it could handle lots of slang, incorrect grammar and implicit meaning as efficiently as a human:

Dude, is you some kinda fancy-schmancy circuit board or does you have DNA?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 14:02

dsimcha

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To my knowledge that would filter out most humans too. – Apr 01 '11 at 18:18
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Especially non-native English speakers. – Adam Matan Apr 02 '11 at 14:07

score 8 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 15:17

"Will your answer to this question be negative?"

Note: the original Turing test proposal was for the computer to pretend to be a woman, the interviewer to be a man, and the test limited to five minutes. If the man was unable to determine if the computer was a woman or not in five minutes, we would have to conclude that the computer was intelligent, "because the converse is not polite".

score 6 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 08:51

6

"Are you Watson?" :-p

Jokes aside, I think it is impossible to determine man from machine with a single question, especially without any context info.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 08:51

Péter Török

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score 6 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:43

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How much wood, would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck would chuck wood?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 09:43

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A woodchuck could chuck no amount of wood since a woodchuck couldn't chuck wood. – Ant Apr 01 '11 at 09:46
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But if a woodchuck could chuck and would chuck some amount of wood, what amount of wood would a woodchuck chuck? – Kristof Claes Apr 01 '11 at 12:21
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Even if a woodchuck could chuck wood and even if a woodchuck would chuck wood, should a woodchuck chuck wood? – bastibe Apr 01 '11 at 12:50
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A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. (According to the tongue twister, although the paper "The Ability of Woodchucks to Chuck Cellulose Fibers" by P.A. Paskevich and T.B. Shea in Annals of Improbable Research vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 4-9, July/August 1995, concluded that a woodchuck can chuck 361.9237001 cubic centimeters of wood per day.) – GSto Apr 01 '11 at 13:36
***ZOT!!!!!!*** – oosterwal Apr 01 '11 at 15:19
He could cut a quarter of a cord of conifer if you gave him a quarter for every cord he cut. – Michael Kristofik Apr 04 '11 at 16:26

score 5 · Answer 12 · edited Apr 08 '11 at 09:35

5

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

edited Apr 08 '11 at 09:35

TZHX

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answered Apr 04 '11 at 14:41

Zachary K

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You need the context first :( – Apr 04 '11 at 15:23
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English or African? – rjzii Apr 04 '11 at 15:27
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African or *European*, not English. – TZHX Apr 08 '11 at 09:36

score 4 · Answer 13 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 10:37

4

If you were to answer dishonestly, how would you answer this question?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 10:37

dan_waterworth

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A: “I wouldn't.” – Agos Apr 01 '11 at 14:21
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@Agos - but that is an honest answer ;) – HorusKol Apr 01 '11 at 22:57
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"Possibly ambiguously." – Beska Aug 12 '11 at 17:36
@Beska, very good – dan_waterworth Aug 13 '11 at 12:55
"Dishonestly" or "with aplomb"... – Aug 18 '11 at 17:37

score 4 · Answer 14 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:23

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So I see that Fred A. Niedle was fired for woobling the wotsits. What do you think about the whole affair?

I'd expect an AI to try to Eliza it back to me somehow, and a human to respond with confusion or humour.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:23

Peter Taylor

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score 3 · Answer 15 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:44

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Ask a logical question which requires infinite recursion for evaluation and hope the programmers weren't smart enough to account for that kind of question.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:44

Falcon

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score 3 · Answer 16 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 17:21

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Well most likely computer has problem answering an alternative to problem :

Which came first: the chicken or the egg?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 17:21

Margus

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[In pictures](http://twitpic.com/5c7iqi) – detly Jun 16 '11 at 09:08

score 3 · Answer 17 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 18:13

3

What would an M look like if you were standing on your head?

answered Apr 01 '11 at 18:13

mouviciel · Answer 18 · 2011-04-01T13:41:39.010

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How are you feeling today? and go on with empathic conversation.

edited Apr 01 '11 at 13:41

answered Apr 01 '11 at 12:13

mouviciel

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I think you should make up your mind on whether you prefer an "empathic" or a "pathetic" conversation ;-) – Péter Török Apr 01 '11 at 12:26

score 2 · Answer 19 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 13:20

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"If humans said nothing to prove that they're human, what would you say?"

answered Apr 01 '11 at 13:20

Homde

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score 2 · Answer 20 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 20:46

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I'd ask something I've always wondered:

"Mary Ann or Ginger?"

answered Apr 01 '11 at 20:46

oosterwal

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A computer would answer "The Professor". – Tom Zych Apr 04 '11 at 18:26
@Tom Zych: It *is* the Turing test, after all... – oosterwal Apr 04 '11 at 18:59

score 2 · Answer 21 · answered Apr 02 '11 at 02:32

"When was the last time you prevaricated?"

Semantically it's a sensible question, and a computer would probably try and answer it, but a human being would just say - "Awee... c'mon.. how the hell would I know?"

Anything with that pattern, ie. linguistically, semantically, and culturally a sensible question, but something which no real person would ask, or answer. (This can be done, without going into deeply personal areas - in fact, the computer might be programmed to handle those with "that's private").

score 2 · Answer 22 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 14:21

I would ask anything where there isn't a clear cut answer and which usually involves strong or varied opinions and/or emotions from human participants. For example:

What do do you think of the current situation in Libya?
What are your thoughts on the recent disaster in Japan?
How do you think we should resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Ivory Coast?
Why do you think Coldplay became so popular?
What do you think about Charlie Sheen?
What new technologies should we foresee in the next twenty years?

score 2 · Answer 23 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 17:30

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"Sorry I'm late. Got held up at my mother's funeral."

Would any intelligent being other than a human respond to that as a human would? I think not.

answered Apr 04 '11 at 17:30

Tom Zych

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score 1 · Answer 24 · answered Apr 02 '11 at 02:40

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Why might a guy say to another guy "Oh, be a fine girl kiss me"?

answered Apr 02 '11 at 02:40

Loren Pechtel

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score 1 · Answer 25 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 17:46

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Whats is your date of birth :) And mother's name too :):):)

answered Apr 04 '11 at 17:46

Ant's

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score 1 · Answer 26 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 19:02

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First: "Are you a programmer?"

If no, not a program.

If yes:

"Do you prefer emacs or vi?"

If that doesn't start a flamewar, it's a machine :)

answered Apr 04 '11 at 19:02

Tom Zych

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If you could pose a question to a Turing test candidate, what would it be?

26 Answers26