Alan Turing Quotes

Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.

One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each other, "My little computer said such a funny thing this morning".

Mathematical reasoning may be regarded.

We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.

A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.

Programming is a skill best acquired by practice and example rather than from books.

A man provided with paper, pencil, and rubber, and subject to strict discipline, is in effect a universal machine.

If a machine is expected to be infallible, it cannot also be intelligent.

Science is a differential equation. Religion is a boundary condition.

Codes are a puzzle. A game, just like any other game.

No, I'm not interested in developing a powerful brain.

We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields.

The idea behind digital computers may be explained by saying that these machines are intended to carry out any operations which could be done by a human computer.

Unless in communicating with it one says exactly what one means, trouble is bound to result.

Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.

We are not interested in the fact that the brain has the consistency of cold porridge.

No, I'm not interested in developing a powerful brain. All I'm after is just a mediocre brain, something like the President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

The original question, 'Can machines think?' I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion.

My little computer said such a funny thing this morning.

I'm afraid that the following syllogism may be used by some in the future. Turing believes machines think Turing lies with men Therefore machines do not think Yours in distress, Alan

Mathematical reasoning may be regarded rather schematically as the exercise of a combination of two facilities, which we may call intuition and ingenuity.

Up to a point, it is better to just let the snags [bugs] be there than to spend such time in design that there are none.

A very large part of space-time must be investigated, if reliable results are to be obtained.

The Exclusion Principle is laid down purely for the benefit of the electrons themselves, who might be corrupted (and become dragons or demons) if allowed to associate too freely.

I want a permanent relationship, and I might feel inclined to reject anything which of its nature could not be permanent.

I have had a dream indicating rather clearly that I am on the way to being hetero, though I don't accept it with much enthusiasm either awake or in the dreams.