The Turing test—from every angle

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Proudfoot
Keyword(s):  
Computer Program ◽  
Turing Test ◽  
Paper Machine ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Pencil And Paper ◽  
The University ◽  
Chess Players ◽  
Working Out ◽  
Turing’S Imitation Game ◽  
Sixtieth Anniversary

Can machines think? Turing’s famous test is one way of determining the answer. On the sixtieth anniversary of his death, the University of Reading announced that a ‘historic milestone in artificial intelligence’ had been reached at the Royal Society: a computer program had passed the ‘iconic’ Turing test. According to an organizer, this was ‘one of the most exciting’ advances in human understanding. In a frenzy of worldwide publicity, the news was described as a ‘breakthrough’ showing that ‘robot overlords creep closer to assuming control’ of human beings. Yet after only a single day it was claimed that ‘almost everything about the story is bogus’: it was ‘nonsense, complete nonsense’ to say that the Turing test had been passed. The program concerned ‘actually got an F’ on the test. The backlash spread to the test itself; critics said that the ‘whole concept of the Turing Test is kind of a joke . . . a needless distraction’. So, what is the Turing test—and why does it matter? In 1948, in a report entitled ‘Intelligent machinery’, Turing described a ‘little experiment’ that, he said, was ‘a rather idealized form of an experiment I have actually done’. It involved three subjects, all chess players. Player A plays chess as he/she normally would, while player B is proxy for a computer program, following a written set of rules and working out what to do using pencil and paper—this ‘paper machine’ was the only sort of programmable computer freely available in 1948 (see Ch. 31). Both of these players are hidden from the third player, C. Turing said, ‘Two rooms are used with some arrangement for communicating moves, and a game is played between C and either A or the paper machine’. How did the experiment fare? According to Turing, ‘C may find it quite difficult to tell which he is playing’. This is the first version of what has come to be known as ‘Turing’s imitation game’ or the ‘Turing test’.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Integration of Human Rights into Social Work Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Paulette Andrea Henry
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Work Education ◽  
The University

<p>The understanding of human rights are important to social work education and practice especially since the global definition of social work highlights the dual role of social work as a practice based profession and academic discipline emphasizing the principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversity. Concomitantly, social work education must ensure that students know and understand human rights laws especially since human rights are inherent to all human beings and are often expressed and guaranteed by international law which Governments are expected to uphold. Social workers have a commitment as duty bearers in supporting governments in the upholding of those agreements pertinent to the wellbeing of the people. Using the University of Guyana as a frame of reference this paper examined students’ knowledge on international agreements prior to leaving the University since these laws not only speak to nation states but to universal practices and many social work issues transcend borders. This paper utilized a mixed method approach to ascertain students’ awareness of international human rights laws and their perceptions on the applicability to practice. The findings show that there is limited knowledge amongst social work students on human rights covenants and conventions. This assessment is instructive to social work educators locally and internationally pointing to the need for integration into the curricula. It is imperative that generalist practitioners leave the University with a clear understanding of these laws as many practice issues are transnational. There will be the need for international social work to be a taught course for undergraduates training to become generalist practitioners.</p>

scholarly journals Reading Habits of Users of Sardar Patel University: A Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Shishir H. Mandalia
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Continued Education ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

Reading plays a vital role in life of a human. Reading provides experience through which the individual may expand his horizons of knowledge, identify, extend and intensify his interest and gains deeper understanding of himself, of other human beings and of the world. The study carried out to assess the reading habits of user of Sardar Patel University, VallabhVidyanagar, Anand, Gujarat. As a research tool; questionnaire was used for the data collection. Collected data were analyzed and tables were used to present the results of findings. Reading especially is a resource for continued education, for the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, for gaining information through media, especially newspapers, books, radio, television, and the computers. In this article investigator attempts to investigate the reading habits of users of the university.

scholarly journals The Necessity of Endowing EFL Learners with the Fifth Language Skill: A Key to a Successful Learning Experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-348
Author(s):  
Fatma ZAGHAR ◽  
El-Alia Wafaâ ZAGHAR
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
The Status ◽  
Cultural Component ◽  
The University

In this increasingly interconnected epoch, the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) along with culture that is considered as a fifth skill has become inevitable. Therefore, EFL teachers are impelled to introduce cultural instruction in their classes. They are then advised to combine the teaching of language skills with the foreign culture because it prepares their learners to behave successfully in intercultural encounters, gain solid cultural knowledge, overcome cultural obstacles, and promote their cultural awareness. The main questions addressed in this research focus on the inclusion of the cultural component in language subjects’ syllabuses, and the type of teaching strategies that can ameliorate the status of cultural instruction. This study points out the key importance of implementing intercultural information in EFL contexts founded on a case study undertaken at the University of Oran 2 in Algeria. This paper targeted a group of Master II students by using an array of data collection means including a questionnaire given to the learners, an interview done with the teachers, and classroom observation sessions carried out by the researchers. The major aims of this work were to verify the learners’ perceptions of cultural learning, and outfit students with core foundations of culture. The results demonstrated that the incorporated teaching techniques have enriched the students’ cultural understanding and intensified their linguistic adeptnesses. It is suggested that these teaching initiatives can aid learners be compassionate, understandable, and tolerant human beings.

scholarly journals Student counseling with nursing students from Universidad del Valle: Search, meeting, permanent challenge

1969 ◽  
Vol 42 (2 supl 1) ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
Delia Burgos ◽  
Alcira Escobar ◽  
Martha Cecilia González
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
School Of Nursing ◽  
Social Projection ◽  
Student Counseling ◽  
Human Care ◽  
The University

Introduction:  The issue of student counseling, as all the issues involved in a comprehensive higher education perspective, includes irresolvable tensions which are always enlightening in discovering the answer to the question: what kind of human beings are formed in the university and what kind of society is going to be built with them? The search for the answer to this question has meaning and matters to all instances and participants in the educational community.Student counseling, comprehensive education, and human care: The practice of Student Counseling includes opportunities for personal and professional growth, along with social projection of students and faculty. For the institution and its academic programs, it constitutes a field for the concrete appplication of the principles and goals of what «ought to be» according to the institutional mission at both levels. In caring for the «other», it is essential to know who that other is. Student Counseling in the School of Nursing at Universidad del Valle has been based on this premise. Its practice has demanded and enhanced knowing the students, their original contexts, expectations, concerns, and difficulties plus their human and professional potentials. The reflections presented here include facts and voices, learnings and processes, limits and scopes of this experience, seeking to recall a memory that demands a place and to contribute to the discussion, fortunately ever-present, about the student as the center and sense of every educational process.

scholarly journals Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The University ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The City ◽  
Selection Of

This digital publication consists of a selection of 56 papers presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), held at the University of Zaragoza, 2-5 July 2019, the general theme of which was ‘Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy’. Sponsored by The Aragonese Association of Sociology, the conference was well-attended – 170 participants from 28 countries met to discuss a wide variety of topics in 29 workshops. The feedback we received from participants confirmed that they had greatly enjoyed the venue of the conference, that they appreciated the warm welcome they had received and the congenial social atmosphere and opportunity to attend workshops on subjects that were not only in their own field of expertise. No one, of course, could have predicted that our world – our work and life as individuals, as communities and as nations – would change so suddenly and radically eighteen months after the conference, with the rapid and devastating spread of the Convid-19 pandemic. The current deepening global crisis along with the challenge of climate change and growing international tensions are a stark reminder of how vulnerable our societies, our civilization, and our species are. The shocks and aftershocks of these crises are felt today in every corner of the world and in every aspect of our global and local economies, and most obviously in the sociopolitical arena. As several of the conference workshops on the multiple crises Europe and the world face today – from the migrant crisis to the rise of populism and deepening inequality between rich and poor – showed – and as the Covid-19 pandemic has so cruelly brought home to us – we simply cannot take the achievements of human civilization for granted and must find ways to meet the fundamental social and political needs of human beings not only in our own neighborhoods, cities and countries, but ultimately in the world as a whole: their living conditions, livelihoods, social services, education and healthcare, human rights and political representation. Several of the workshops, as I mentioned, directly addressed these issues and emphasized the need for building social resilience based on tolerance, solidarity and equity. This too is why, as academics, we should continue to initiate and engage in collective reflection and debate on how to foster and strengthen human communities and human solidarity. Finally, I want to thank the participants and workshop chairs for their contribution to the success of the conference. It was a pleasure for me to work with the university organizing team and with ISSEI’s team in bringing this about, and I am particularly proud that my university and the city of Zaragoza hosted this conference.

In honor of Jurgen Ruesch: Remembering his work in psychiatry

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Balbuena Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Assessment ◽  
Communication Behavior ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
Mental Diseases ◽  
Look Back ◽  
Academic Barriers ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Working Out

Background: In a highly technical civilization like ours, in which the interest in human communication transcends academic barriers and clinical practice, it seems necessary to look back to Ruesch’s work in psychiatry. The main reason of it rests upon the idea that he was one of the few truly outstanding clinicians, researchers, and theoretical in the field of normal and abnormal communication. In fact, he did not only present a wealth of observational and clinical data; more importantly, he used these data to formulate creative hypotheses about the conflict between man and other human beings. Aim/Objective: The main purpose of this article is to pay tribute to Dr. Jurgen Ruesch (1909-1995), distinguished psychiatrist, communications experts and psychotherapist. For that reason, here we want to pay tribute to the enormous value of his work for the promotion of mental health and the clinical assessment of normal and pathological communication behavior. Methods: In working out his theoretical stance toward communication, all Ruesch’s works here have been reviewed. In line with this, the author also mentions similarities between Ruesch and other psychiatric/psychotherapeutic authors. Also similarities have been established between Ruesch and Frank on “non specific factors in psychotherapy”, and tensions within contemporary training of psychiatrists, almost predicted by Ruesch. Results and Conclusions: While some of Ruesch’s ideas about the nature and origins of communication has been discounted, many of his preoccupations are now part of the mainstream, and it is to here that we should look for evidence of his legacy. In fact, he has been the author of rich and fruitful ideas, which are essential to clinical understanding of mental diseases and their treatments. It is not surprising, therefore, that Ruesch’s burning interest in the clinical assessment of normal and pathological communicative behavior finds a significant echo in today’s proliferation of books, papers, and conferences on communication. For all that, we should honor him.

Assembling the Global University

2013 ◽  
pp. 366-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gray Kochhar-Lindgren
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Entrepreneurial University ◽  
First Year ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Global University ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The University

This chapter examines the emergence of the global artistic-entrepreneurial university, the increasing importance of interdisciplinary and innovative pedagogies, and how these new emphases are shaping institutional change. The first section analyzes the global university as an “assemblage,” a process that gathers ideas, materialities, digitized platforms, and human beings into a new form of higher education. Because of the impacts on higher education of the flows of capital, technology, people, and cultural practices in both the “East” and the “West,” this form of the university transcends regional and national boundaries as it builds networks of learning around the world. The second section of the chapter focuses on the increasing importance of interdisciplinarity and developing active and integrative pedagogies organized around fundamental skills and questions. In order to ground the discussion in particular sites, the authors use examples from the University of Hong Kong’s new Core Curriculum and from the University of Washington Bothell’s Discovery Core for first-year students. In the final section, the chapter addresses what the next steps might look like as institutions change themselves to fit a globalized context. This section returns to the idea of the global university as a “hub of an ecology of studio-labs” (Parks, 2005, p. 57) and suggest that the “managerial” university is transitioning into a more flexible model of the “artistic-entrepreneurial” university in order to prosper in an extremely competitive and generative global environment.

Blending Conventional Methods with Emerging Flight Simulation Technology as Tools for Effective Teaching and Learning Experiences in Aerospace Engineering

2014 ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Noor A. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Flight Simulation ◽  
Aerospace Engineering ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
The University ◽  
Effective Teaching And Learning

Engineering is about wealth creation for the comfort and well-being of human beings. In this context, the process and experiences associated with teaching and learning of engineering concepts are pivotal in sustaining and advancing the progress of modern day civilization. However, the teaching of aerospace engineering is not easy and fraught with difficulties, as the students have to be provided with the opportunity to develop their creative skills while retaining a professional and practical base. It is also important to proactively harness the available and emerging technologies to greater effect in the learning process. At the University of New South Wales in Australia, the authors have approached the teaching and learning in undergraduate aerospace engineering from a non-conventional perspective to prepare students to be creative and become practically oriented for productive employment in the very competitive world of today. They have been experimenting and refining what is generally known as the “advanced project design study concept” used in some aerospace industries and incorporated it as an integral component in aerospace engineering studies. In the process, the authors have blended conventional methods with flight simulation as methods of enquiry and investigation. The feedback, support, and encouragement that they have received from industries, the potential employers of students, have been very positive. This chapter outlines the basic philosophies behind the authors’ approach and the methodologies and technologies used in achieving the desired outcomes.

Disaster Scenarios

2030 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutger van Santen ◽  
Djan Khoe ◽  
Bram Vermeer
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Tidal Waves ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Chinese Coast ◽  
The University

A hurricane striking the Chinese coast is ten times as lethal as one hitting the United States. The number of U.S. victims is limited because of better precautions, warning systems, and evacuation methods. More effective observation and communication can save lives. A century ago, hurricanes killed around 7,000 Americans every year, whereas nowadays there are only very few hurricanes of the lethality of Katrina. That progress has yet to reach every corner of Earth, says Guus Berkhout regretfully. This Dutch geophysicist has immersed himself in the mechanisms of disasters and disaster prevention since the beginning of his scientific career—first as professor of seismic imaging and later as professor of innovation at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. We talked to him at the university campus that lies 3 meters below sea level. At his laboratory, Berkhout analyzes the early warning systems and contingency plans that will be needed to protect both his lab and his compatriots. “We can’t stop earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, or tidal waves from happening,” he stresses. “And we may never be able to predict hurricanes or earthquakes with sufficient accuracy. Nor can we hope to prevent people from living in dangerous places. They are simply too attractive.” Human beings indeed seem addicted to living on the edge of catastrophe. The World Bank has calculated that a fifth of all countries are under permanent threat of natural disaster, with some 3.4 billion people—roughly half the world’s population—at heightened risk of being killed by one. Yet unsafe regions are often exceptionally popular places to live and work, one reason being that floodplains and the slopes of volcanoes are highly fertile. The climate is milder along the coast, the soil better, and transport more efficient than farther inland. Even the likelihood of earthquakes isn’t enough to persuade people to live elsewhere, as witnessed by some of the most densely populated areas of California and Japan. Current migration trends—moving to where the action is—suggest that the proportion of people living in unsafe areas will only increase.

Book Reviews: Gordon and Suzuki - It's a Matter of SurvivalAnita Gordon and David Suzuki Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991, 278 pp. US$19.95 cloth. ISBN 0-674-46970-4. Harvard University Press, 79 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-286
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Bonnicksen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ◽  
The University

PrécisIn 1989 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired a five-part radio series, “It's a Matter of Survival.” Anita Gordon was the originator and executive producer of the series. David Suzuki is Professor of Zoology at the University of British Columbia and the host of “The Nature of Things,” a science television program. This book grew out of the radio series and is described on the jacket cover by Edward O. Wilson as “the best piece of extended environmental journalism I've seen to date.” Cited in the end notes are publications in the popular press (e.g., The New York Times) and CBC interviews with a range of environmental commentators such as Lester Brown and Paul Erlich. The book indicts the environmental irresponsibility of human beings as a species and is intended as a response to the radio listeners who wrote to the CBC following the 1989 broadcasts asking what they could do to forestall environmental catastrophe.Gordon and Suzuki begin with a hypothetical glimpse into the “nightmare world of 2040.” Subsequent chapters question how we reached the stage of environmental crisis, explore myths that have blinded us to the crisis, predict future growth trends, describe the ethic of domination over nature, and review the devastation wrought by prevailing definitions of “progress.” The authors end with an alternative (and positive) look at the year 2040 that can be possible if the resolutions they discuss are sought. They conclude that humans as a species have “lost the ability to hear the warning cries of nature” (p. 234), but they hold the hope that humans can emerge from the crisis with a “new collective image of ourselves as a species integrated into the natural world” (p. 238).

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