He is widely know for the test which bears his name – the Turing Test – which Alan Turing designed to test for machine intelligence. In the test, a person communicates in natural language via keyboard and screen with two hidden respondents, one human, one computer. If the person cannot tell which of the respondents is the machine, the computer is said to have passed the Turing test. So far no computer has consistently passed the test.
Turing is also famous for his work during the Second World War at Bletchley Park and the breaking of the German naval Enigma code. In collaboration with Gordon Welchman, he designed an electromechanical machine called a “bombe” that eliminated unworkable Enigma settings, leaving only a few to be investigated by analysts. He went on to make a several further contributions to the war effort in different areas.
Regrettably, in 1952, Turing was arrested, tried and convicted for homosexuality which at that time was a criminal offence. As result, and despite his wartime record, his security clearance to work for the government was revoked. Sadly, in 7 June 1954, he committed suicide, eating an apple laced with cyanide.
Happy Birthday, Alan.