From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!pindor Mon May 25 14:05:23 EDT 1992
Article 5651 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!pindor
>From: pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Andrzej Pindor)
Subject: Re: Turing test and language
Message-ID: <1992May14.160945.1252@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Keywords: turing test language acquisition new yorker
Organization: UTCS Public Access
References: <1992May12.205205.14441@bony1.bony.com>
Date: Thu, 14 May 1992 16:09:45 GMT

In article <1992May12.205205.14441@bony1.bony.com> richieb@bony1.bony.com (Richard Bielak) writes:
>In the April 13th and April 20th issue of "The New Yorker" magazine
>there is a two part article called "Silent CHildhood". It talks about
>a girl, who was kept isolated from all humans, except her father, from
>birth until she was about 13. She did not start learning language
>until then.
>
>The article discusses at length (after all this is _the_ "New Yorker")
>this case, and others of so called "wild" children, from the
>perspective of linguists.
>
>The interesting thing is that the girl never really acquired language.
>She learned words, but syntax was beyond her - for example, she never
>learned how to make negatives.
>
>I thought that if she had been used in a Turing test - playing the
>role of computer - she would have failed miserably. The tester would
>have declared her _not_ intelligent.
>
>Yet, according to her caretakers, she _was_ intelligent.  She was
>eerily good at non-verbal communications and was excellent in spacial
>reasoning.
>
>The implication is that the Turing test does not prove or disprove the
>intelligence of the entity tested.
You are treating the TT too literally. If we are to test a (presumed) mind, we
have use means of communication which will let us to make a contact with it,
don't you think so? It is in the same spirit as using, say, Chinese for TT
on a someone who only speaks Chinese and not claiming that he/she fails TT,
because he/she doesn't speak English. The guardians of the girl had obviously
submitted her to some sort of a TT on the basis of which they concluded that
she has all this sympthoms of intelligence.
>
>
>...richie
>
>
>
>-- 
>* Richie Bielak   (212)-815-3072   | "Your brain is a liquid-cooled parallel  *
>* Internet:       richieb@bony.com | super-computer". He pointed to his nose, *
>* Bang {uupsi,uunet}!bony1!richieb | "This is the fan."                       *
>*    - Strictly my opinions -      |                     - David Chudnovsky - *


-- 
Andrzej Pindor
University of Toronto
Computing Services
pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca


