Alan Turing - Bryant McGill

# Alan Turing **Domain:** Computation / Artificial Intelligence / Mathematics **Doc Type:** Thinker Node **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[Artificial Intelligence]], [[Machine Intelligence Continuum]], [[Cybernetics]], [[Machine Learning]] ## Definition **Alan Turing (1912–1954)** was a British mathematician whose work helped establish the formal theory of computation and whose 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” directly framed the problem of machine intelligence. ## Contributions Turing’s 1936 analysis of computable procedures introduced an abstract machine model capable of expressing general computation. His wartime cryptanalytic work demonstrated the strategic power of mechanized reasoning, while later writings treated learning machines, adaptation, and the problem of evaluating intelligent behavior. ## Corpus Function Turing is a central hinge in the [[Machine Intelligence Continuum]]: earlier dreams of mechanical or symbolic reasoning became a formal account of what a general computing process could be. His imitation game is a behavioral test, not proof of consciousness or personal continuity. ## Transmitted Objective Turing's 1950 paper answered Ada Lovelace's objection that the Analytical Engine could originate nothing by devoting a named section to “Lady Lovelace's Objection.” His 1951 lecture then invoked Samuel Butler's _Erewhon_ while forecasting machines that would outstrip human powers and take control. These are direct acts of inheritance linking Babbage and Lovelace's programmable engine, Butler's machine-succession literature, and the modern machine-intelligence research program. ## Evidence Ledger ### Established - Turing formalized general computation, worked on wartime cryptanalytic machinery, and framed machine intelligence as an experimental question. - His published argument explicitly engaged Lovelace, and his 1951 lecture explicitly engaged Butler. ### Strongly indicated - Turing transmitted earlier objectives and objections into the founding literature of artificial intelligence. ### Plausible - His private “Nature of Spirit” essay after Christopher Morcom's death formed part of the emotional prehistory of his later work on mind and machine. ### Unresolved - The degree to which that private reflection causally shaped the later research program. Correspondence or explicit retrospective testimony would promote the link; silence retains it as biographical context. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts  > "Can a machine be made to be super-critical?" > **— Alan Turing**, *Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950).* [[reminders/unverified/Can a Machine Become Supercritical by Alan Turing|Can a Machine Become Supercritical by Alan Turing]] > "It seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers." > **— Alan Turing**, *c. 1951, Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machines Could Quickly Outstrip Human Powers by Alan Turing|Machines Could Quickly Outstrip Human Powers 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* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machines May Outstrip Human Intelligence and Take Control by Alan Turing|Machines May Outstrip Human Intelligence and Take Control by Alan Turing]] > "Machines take me by surprise with great frequency." > **— Alan Turing**, *Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950).* [[reminders/unverified/Machines Keep Surprising Their Inventors by Alan Turing|Machines Keep Surprising Their Inventors by Alan Turing]] > "I do not see why it should not enter any one of the fields normally covered by the human intellect." > **— Alan Turing**, *The Mechanical Brain, The Times (1949)* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: The Mechanical Brain, The Times (1949).* [[reminders/unverified/Machines May Enter Every Realm of Human Intellect by Alan Turing|Machines May Enter Every Realm of Human Intellect by Alan Turing]] > "Presumably the child-brain is something like a note-book as one buys it from the stationer's." > **— Alan Turing**, *Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950).* [[reminders/unverified/The Child Brain as a Blank Notebook by Alan Turing|The Child Brain as a Blank Notebook by Alan Turing]]  ## Sources / Provenance - [Turing Digital Archive, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”](https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/computing-machinery-and-intelligence). - [Turing Digital Archive, “Intelligent Machinery”](https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/intelligent-machinery). - [[articles/A History of Machine Intelligence|A History of Machine Intelligence]]. ## Relationships - **Collection route:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]]. - **Source context:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] and [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]]. - **Inference provenance:** [[research/Research Inferences|Research Inferences]]. - **Named predecessors:** [[wiki/Ada Lovelace|Ada Lovelace]] and [[wiki/Samuel Butler|Samuel Butler]]. - **Method:** [[wiki/Transmitted Objective|Transmitted Objective]]. ## Quotations  Quotations here are evidence for named propositions, not substitutes for proof. Confidence grades describe the quotation's provenance; they do not raise the associated scientific or philosophical inference to the same tier. The selection record is [[research/Research Inferences|Research Inferences]] and the supplied quotation review dated 2026-09-11. > “At some stage therefore we should have to expect the machines to take control” > > — **Alan Turing**, Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory (c. 1951). [Source](https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/alan-turing-quotes-separating-fact-fiction) · **Provenance confidence:** Medium **Evidentiary role:** provides a historical ancestor for machine-control arguments.