artificial intelligence

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophile"
>
> I've decided that I want to ask a different question. Not "Does AI
> exist now?" or "Will AI exist in ten years?" or even "When, if ever,
> do you think that we will have AI?"
>
> No, what I want to ask is this:
> What would a machine need to do in order for you to say, "Yes, that's
> Artificial Intelligence"?
>
Dear xenophile,
There is a classic test for artificial intelligence which I
believe is called the Turing Test (named after one of the most
influential and brilliant "fathers" of modern computing). In general,
if a participant at a computer terminal (voice activated or keyboard)
can meaningfully interact (ask questions and receive replies) with
another computer terminal for five minutes to such an extent that
he/she is convinced that there is another person responding at the
other terminal then artificial intelligence is assumed on the part of
the computer at the other end. This is a generalization but it gives
you an insight into Mr. Turing's very pragmatic approach to this much
debated question.
Chris