Interview on the future of computing [in:] The Times, 11 June 1949

TURING, Alan Mathison (1912-1954)

Published by Times Newspapers Ltd, London, 1949

592 x 432mm, stored folded; 10pp. TURING'S MOST DARING STATEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. The interview that contains Turing's most famous quote, used on the £50 note that bears his portrait: "This is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what is going to be." Also a clear presage of Turing's famous paper 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence', published just one year later in Mind Quarterly (Vol. LIX, No. 236, Oct., 1950), and a pithy summary of his prior 1948 report .Intelligent Machinery'. The subject of the interview, printed here on p. 4 of The Times for 11 June 1949 (No. 51,405), was ostensibly the 'Manchester Baby' - the first operational stored program computer in the world. But it just so happened that two days before the interview the neurologist Sir Geoffrey Jefferson had given a nay-saying and well publicised talk about computing and intelligence. Turing was therefore encouraged to speculate on the powers of computing machinery: "We have to have some experience with the machine before we really know its capabilities. It may take years before we settle down to the new possibilities, but I do not see why it should not enter any one of the fields normally covered by human intellect, and eventually compete on equal terms." The (journalist's) description of the computer (the Manchester 'Baby') is also pleasing: "Its appearance is somewhat unpreposessing. It is composed of racks of electrical apparatus consisting of a mass of untidy wires, valves, chassis, and display tubes. When in action the cathode ray becomes a pattern of dots which shows what information is in the machine." The piece discusses the solution of 'a problem, the nature of which is not disclosed, which was started in the seventeenth century', and also the composition of poetry. On this point Turing makes an intriguing remark: "I do not think you can even draw the line about sonnets, though the comparison is perhaps a little bit unfair because a sonnet written by a machine will be better appreciated by another machine." The journalist, summarizing Turing, concluded with the following visionary insight: "Turing added that [.] their research would be directed to finding the degree of intellectual activity of which a machine was capable, and to what extent it could think for itself." Turing's comments were controversial: The Times carried a number of letters in future editions attempting to reign in Turing s speculations, one of them from his Manchester colleague Max Newman. Even in this small space Turing manages to say a lot: the idea that computer creations can only be appreciated by other computers remains quite startling - think of what might happen when LLMs get chatting with each other. Note that he is actually quite cautious when he says "fields normally covered by the human intellect". Computers can't do everything - but there's no reason why they can't reason. Very good condition: fragile and age-toned, with some very subtle archival-tape repairs to the spine and central fold (but barely noticeable and a great aid to handling). The Turing interview in excellent condition. Seller Inventory # 250503410C

Bibliographic Details

Title: Interview on the future of computing [in:] ...
Publisher: Times Newspapers Ltd, London
Publication Date: 1949
Binding: No Binding
Condition: Very Good