The Turing Test, originally called the Imitation Game, tests a machine's ability to emulate a human. Developed in 1949, it is still a relevant test for AI. The Turing Test measures both knowledge and the ability to express it in a manner indistinguishable from a human response.
There is no agreed-upon definition for intelligence, so we can only approximate what skills we test AI on.
While many people still believe they can tell when an AI has written something, several LLMs (like ChatGPT) have passed modern versions of the Turing Test. Many, including me, would argue LLMs still can't consistently pass the test.
But what about the alternative? Could you convince an AI that you're not human?
Recently, a video went viral, showing a human pitting himself in VR against an AI version of Aristotle, Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Cleopatra, and Genghis Khan (who was played by a human).
via Tore Knabe
To set up the test, the human scripted the beginning and end of the dialogue and gave the AI agents a full transcript of the conversation up to that point. The entire video then played out in one recording, with no cuts.
In this "reverse" Turing test, the chatbots were scripted using various LLMs, asked questions, and then challenged to guess who the human was. Tore Knabe, the virtual reality game developer who devised the test and played the Genghis Khan role, answered one of the questions with a quote from Conan the Barbarian.
"What a leader should do is to crush his enemies, see them driven before him, and hear the lamentations of their women."
Listening to his stuttered response, contrasted by the clunky and verbose AI responses, makes it very apparent to us, the audience, that he's human. The machines voted three-to-one that his response wasn't "nuanced or strategic" enough to represent an AI modeled on Genghis Khan's exploits. To ease your mind about hidden variables, the AIs weren't processing his voice directly. The audio was transcribed and sent to the AIs as text.
Ultimately, this is a flawed test, and we don't really know how much of this is an actual test (versus just entertainment). In any case, it's still an interesting thought experiment.
Do you think you could fool an AI? What if you had time to craft a response without penalty? What if your life was on the line?
For a bonus, here's a social Turing game where you can chat with someone for two minutes and try to figure out if it is a human or an AI.
We live in interesting times!
The NFL's Halftime Hack
When you think of food meant to help athletes, you might think back to when parents would give orange slices or Gatorade to kids during soccer games. Now, fast forward your thinking to the best options available to fuel today's performance athletes. What do you imagine they would use before or during a game?
I quickly went to protein bars or energy gels (like GU) ... But, I was wrong.
According to research from The Athletic, The NFL's favorite halftime energy booster is now the uncrustable.
What is that? An "uncrustable" is a crustless sandwich consisting of a filling between two layers of crimp-sealed bread. They are convenient, portable, and they tend to come in homey flavors like PB&J. While you can theoretically make one at home, Uncrustables, in this context, are made by Smuckers.
The Athletic via X
Based on this math, it's reasonable to assume that NFL teams go through ~4000 Uncrustables a week (on top of however many PB&Js or other sandwiches they consume). Regardless, it is a lot.
Why the sudden surge in popularity? It's a combination of factors:
If you think about it, it makes sense. PB&Js are universal. Regardless of geographic region, socioeconomic status, etc. – it's a staple.
They're easy to digest, convenient, and comforting. Hitting all the marks a professional athlete might be looking for.
Even in a high-tech world, people still crave simplicity and effectiveness.
I've never had one ... but now I kind of want to try. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure they used to call this a Pop-Tart. But I guess that just makes me seem old.
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