Hi Y'all, just wanted to let everybody know there is a really good discussion on The Edge right now. It's called "One Half of a Manifesto" (~100k) and written by Jason Lanier.

My favourite byte to chew on:

... Turing's mistake was that he assumed that the only explanation for a successful computer entrant would be that the computer had become elevated in some way; by becoming smarter, more human. There is another, equally valid explanation of a winning computer, however, which is that the human had become less intelligent, less human-like.

An official Turing Test is held every year, and while the substantial cash prize has not been claimed by a program as yet, it will certainly be won sometime in the coming years. My view is that this event is distracting everyone from the real Turing Tests that are already being won. Real, though miniature, Turing Tests are happening all the time, every day, whenever a person puts up with stupid computer software.

(emphasis mine)

Oh, and don't head over there until you have a good block of time so you can think about the ideas, and also read the extensive Reality Club response (274k) which is arguable more interesting than the article itself.

Enjoy, I know I am.