Alan Turing
Mathematician whose 1950 imitation game became the Turing Test
The mathematician who founded modern computing. His 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” proposed the imitation game, later renamed the Turing Test by others.
Accomplishments
- British mathematician and computing researcher (1912–1954); elected a Fellow of King's College Cambridge in 1935.
- Described a universal computing machine in his 1936 paper on computable numbers, establishing a mathematical model of computation.
- Worked on German codebreaking at Bletchley Park during World War II and later developed plans for the Automatic Computing Engine at the National Physical Laboratory.
- Proposed the imitation game in his 1950 paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence; it later became known as the Turing test.
Papers & key writings
- On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem (1936)
- Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)
- The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis (1952)
Links
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Turing Test Live
A free browser game of the imitation game: as interrogator you question two witnesses — one human, one a current language model such as GPT-4 or Claude — and guess which is which, with identities revealed at the end of each round. You can also play as a witness.
Why this: Also about Turing Test
John von Neumann: Life, Work, and Legacy (Institute for Advanced Study)
The Institute for Advanced Study's free biographical page on John von Neumann, who joined its School of Mathematics at 30 — covering his work on quantum theory, game theory, the stored-program computer architecture nearly every machine still uses, and his wartime work.
Why this: Also about computing history
Adam Elkus
Writing of Adam Elkus on technology, security, AI and political violence — long-form essays connecting computing history with policy and human values.
Why this: Also about computing history