View source for Intelligent Machinery: A Heretical Theory

'''Turing, Alan. "Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory."''' 1951 lecture given to '51 Society'. Manchester.  As of May 2023 and under restrictions, available at the Turing Digital Archive, here.[https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/publications-lectures-and-talks-amtb/amt-b-4]

Key passages for warning of AI dangers given in note (a) in the Wikipedia article "[[Existential Risk from Artificial General Intelligence]]":

<blockquote>
In a 1951 lecture Turing argued that “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; or, Over the Range|Erewhon]]''.” Also in a lecture broadcast on BBC [15 May 1951][https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/publications-lectures-and-talks-amtb/amt-b-6] [Turing] expressed [the warning]: "If a machine can think, it might think more intelligently than we do, and then where should we be? Even if we could keep the machines in a subservient position, for instance by turning off the power at strategic moments, we should, as a species, feel greatly humbled. . . . This new danger . . . is certainly something which can give us anxiety.”
</blockquote>



RDE, finishing, 10May23
[[Category: Background]]