Web Science Institute celebrates 75 years of the Turing Test

At a celebratory event led by the Web Science Institute (WSI) in collaboration with The Royal Society, academic researchers and world-renowned speakers came together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Alan Turing’s seminal paper ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’.

This paper, written in 1950, introduces the concept of the Turing Test, which addresses the question of whether machines can think.

Hosted by WSI director Professor Dame Wendy Hall , the event featured insightful keynotes and panel discussions by renowned computer science academics, AI commentators and industry leaders, including Dr Alan Kay , Professor Emeritus Gary Marcus , Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt , Dr William Isaac , Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind and Professor Yarin Gal from the AI Security Institute . There was also a guest appearance by singer, songwriter Peter Gabriel who has an interest in AI.

Sessions included considering past interpretations of Alan Turing’s work, which were supported by insights from his nephew Sir Dermot Turing of the National Museum of Computing . And discussions focused on its uses and relevance today, and how the future of the Turing Test may be updated to remain fit for purpose amidst rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.

The event, which was attended by over 175 people at the Royal Society and over 1,000 people online, garnered media interest from the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist and Bloomberg, highlighting both its topical themes and the expertise of its panel members.

Attendees were also invited to explore an AI Exhibition, curated by the WSI and The Royal Society, showcasing computing through the 20 ^th and 21 ^st Century, from Alan Turing’s early work and the beginnings of AI through to the technology shaping lives and society today.

The positive reception of the event is a testament to the WSI and University of Southampton ’s commitment to interdisciplinary and international collaboration, evidenced by the reputation of its attending academics from the University of Oxford , University College London , New York University, the University of Edinburgh , Trinity College Dublin and Université de Montréal . It builds on the WSI’s growing portfolio of leading research in the field of AI, machine learning and computer science.

To find out more about research at WSI, visit the SharePoint site . Or, to see how the event unfolded, watch it back here .