Chapter 534: Chinese Room and Turing Test

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Chinese Room was an experiment proposed by American philosopher, John Searle, in 1980. A person who only spoke English was locked in a room, with only a small window to communicate with the outside world. Any communication would be written, but he had a Chinese dictionary with him. Notes written in Chinese would be sent into the room through the window, and the person in the room was able to translate and respond using the dictionary. Even though he didn’t understand Chinese, he was able to convince outsiders that he knew Chinese well because he used the dictionary.

Searle used this experiment to pass the Turing Test. No existing AIs could surpass the restrictions of the Chinese Room test. To the person asking the questions, the computer responded as if it were intelligent, while in reality it had no idea what was going on.

The Turing Test was an experiment constructed by Alan Turing in 1950, in which an evaluator and two players were separated, and could only type to communicate. If the evaluator couldn’t tell which player was human and which player was a machine, the machine passed, deemed as having human-like intelligence.

This elfin was able make the readers think that it was a person who played the prank. If it were indeed an AI, it passed the Turing Test.

Was passing the Turing Test sufficient for an AI? Searle’s experiment proved it wasn’t.

The discourse between the two experiments was enough to write a thick book, but Zhang Zian had only heard a little of it.

Why did it have to be Chinese Room? Why not Portuguese Room? Or German Room? The reason was that most westerners believed Chinese was the most difficult language and couldn’t be mastered by humans.

The Chinese Room experiment wasn’t as well-known as Schr?dinger’s cat, but everyone in the AI and computer science field knew about it.

Zhang Zian’s speculation lingered in his mind for a moment, then he rejected the idea. It was too far-fetched.

First of all, the experiment had nothing to do with animals.

Secondly, “AlphaDog” was a nickname for the super computer AlphaGo used by Chinese people. As “Dog” had the same pronunciation as “Go,” the name became viral somehow. However, AlphaGo was not a dog.

Lastly, even if there were a dog named “Alpha” that became an elfin, AI was developing rapidly these days, with lots of money and technology being invested. Everybody was optimistic about the prospect of AI in the 21st century. The AlphaDog’s Strength of Faith should be growing. How did it fade rapidly?

Considering everything, Zhang Zian thought that his speculation was wrong. The elfin couldn’t have been an AI elfin.

He took out his phone and opened the game interface. If one of the elfins in the game was an AI, it had to be the Navigation Elfin.

AlphaGo didn’t qualify as an elfin. It was nothing more than a prototype AI, it wasn’t bada** enough.

“Navigation Elfin, are you there?” he whispered. He unmuted the phone and turned the volume extremely low.

[Navigation Elfin]: At your service.

“Are you an AI?”

[Navigation Elfin]: I’m your Navigation Elfin.

When Zhang Zian first downloaded the game, he thought the Navigation Elfin was a 24 hour customer service agent, so it was safe to say that the Navigation Elfin passed the Turing Test with flying colors.

Mr. Zhou was reading when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zhang Zian speaking to his phone. He reminded him, “Young man, cell phones aren’t allowed.”

Zhang Zian smiled and locked the screen. “I got it.”

His eyes fell back to the computer screen and asked another question in English.

[The Hottie]: What book is it?

The chatroom didn’t have a private chatting option, so all conversations were displayed for all to see.

Soon, the elfin replied in English, with an answer hidden between the numbers. It was hard and tiresome to read.

[3.1415926]: My book. I want my book.

[The Hottie]: Is it an important book?

[3.1415926]: Without the book, I’ll disappear from this world.

Zhang Zian was relieved. It appeared that the book was the key to capturing the elfin.

The others didn’t feel the same way. To them, this person just wanted attention, or maybe even a donation. They were all book lovers, but even so, they’d never say that they’d die without books.

Zhang Zian understood the difference between “disappearing” and “dying,” but the others didn’t.

Some thought the pranker was suffering from a psychological disorder, so girls like Coco developed sympathy.

[Coco]: What’s the name of the book? We can help you look for it.

[3.1415926]: It has no name.

[Coco]: No name? You at least know what the book is about, right?

For the bookworms who spent all day in the library, finding a book was their area of expertise, not even the librarians could do a better job. Coco and the others were confident. As long as the pranker revealed the content of the book, they’d be able to narrow it down and find the book.

Zhang Zian knew that he wasn’t as good as them in this area, so he watched silently.

[3.1415926]: Life. The universe. Everything.

[Coco]: Ha! I’ve read that book! Why did you say it didn’t have a name? Is it the third volume of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams? I’ll get it for you!

Many of the other readers have read this classic science fiction book. Some of them left their seats and searched with Coco, passing Zhang Zian. Some headed to the second floor for the Chinese version, and some went to the third floor to look for the version in English. They weren’t normally so enthusiastic and quick. This time, though, they wanted to know the prankster’s identity.

If it claims that it’ll die without the book, it’ll have to come and get it, right? Zhang Zian didn’t move from his chair, just continued with his thinking.

He knew that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed, otherwise this elfin wouldn’t have been “extremely difficult” to hunt.