# Machines May Outstrip Human Intelligence and Take Control by Alan Turing > "It seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers. There would be no question of the machines dying, and they would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits. At some stage therefore we should have to expect the machines to take control, in the way that is mentioned in Samuel Butler’s ‘Erewhon’." > **— Alan Turing**, *c. 1951, Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory* ## Sources and Context - **Archival typescript record:** [AMT/B/4 | The Turing Digital Archive](https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/publications-lectures-and-talks-amtb/amt-b-4) — the archive identifies two versions of Turing’s typescript and describes the work as a lecture given to the ’51 Society at Manchester around 1951. - **Published transcription and complete passage:** [Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory](https://gwern.net/doc/ai/1951-turing.pdf), pp. 474–475 — the transcription reproduces the complete, contiguous ending of the typescript, including the sentences about machines not dying, conversing to sharpen their wits, taking control, and Samuel Butler’s *Erewhon*. - **Independent authentication:** [Alan Turing quotes: separating fact from fiction | The Alan Turing Institute](https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/alan-turing-quotes-separating-fact-fiction) — Sir Dermot Turing identifies the “machines to take control” sentence as an authenticated Turing quotation from 1951. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s|Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Alan Turing|Alan Turing]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - [[wiki/Control Problem|Control Problem]] - [[wiki/Samuel Butler|Samuel Butler]] - [[wiki/Erewhon|Erewhon]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "It seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers. There would be no question of the machines dying, and they would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits. At some stage therefore we should have to expect the machines to take control, in the way that is mentioned in Samuel Butler’s ‘Erewhon’." — Alan Turing, c. 1951, Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-alan-turing-machines-outstrip-human-intelligence-take-control ```