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Bayesianblues

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VC partner, hacker, entrepreneur, and futurist.

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I just posted this elsewhere, but thought it applies here too:

I've often wondered if the Turing Test has been decoupled from signifying its original goal due to an instance of Goodhart's Law; namely, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

Surely the ability to trick a human into believing an AI is a human is a milestone, but it was with an AI specifically optimized for this task. The deeper question is if the passing of the Turing Test in this case means we should ascribe consciousness to the bot, and I think none of us are willing to affirm it yet. I would suggest that this discrepancy is caused by the “measure becoming a target” and losing its ability to be a “good measure.” I guess this is why there is such a critical distinction between Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence, which is where the Turing Test would have more weight.

Turing Test Success 12 years ago

I've often wondered if the Turing Test has been decoupled from signifying its original goal due to an instance of Goodhart's Law; namely, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

Surely the ability to trick a human into believing an AI is a human is a milestone, but it was with an AI specifically optimized for this task. The deeper question is if the passing of the Turing Test in this case means we should ascribe consciousness to the bot, and I think none of us are willing to affirm it yet. I would suggest that this discrepancy is caused by the “measure becoming a target” and losing its ability to be a “good measure.” I guess this is why there is such a critical distinction between Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence, which is where the Turing Test would have more weight.

Regarding how or where, the specifics and actionable advice is often domain specific, so if you have more details I would be glad to comment. As to interviewing potential users/customers if they will use your product, from personal experience I can say be wary about overweighting based on small sample size, and also be guarded against taking as proof of concept the assent of friends, family, or even non-anonymous users who would be incentived to provide positive feedback (even if subconsciously). For initial adopters, privilege "action over talk" in your decision calculus. Best of luck!!