Episode 56: Passing the Turing Test

Peter and Dan discuss Google Duplex, an AI system capable of conducting natural conversations to carry out “real world” tasks over the phone. The technology is directed towards completing specific tasks, such as scheduling certain types of appointments and makes the conversational experience as natural as possible, allowing people to speak normally -- like they would to another person -- without having to adapt to a machine. In this episode: Peter talks about the Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, as a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human, and why he believes Google Duplex has conquered this feat. Read the Google blog here. Dan and Peter discuss the implications of technology like this, when AI’s master realistic voice-synthesizing, and the societal and legal ramifications. Will AI’s be required to self-identify by law? Should they? Peter describes a future where AI’s impact the education industry and believes we are less than 5 years away from this disruption.