Alan Turing Presented By: Tyler Romero CSCE Spring 2014
Background Born June 23, 1912 in London Studied Mathematics at Cambridge University ( ) Obtained Ph.D from Princeton University (1938)
Computability Turing Machine A hypothetical, formal computing device Manipulates symbols (EX: 0s and 1s) on a “tape” Could perform any math computation expressed as an algorithm Used Turing Machines to show that not all math problems are solvable by computers
World War 2 and Cryptography The English Secret Service Recruited Turing (1939) Bletchley Park Deciphering the “Enigma”, a German encoding machine Developed the Bombe (1940) A device that used crib based decryption A “Crib” is a known section of plaintext Used statistical techniques to optimize the code breaking process His work in cryptography remained secret for many years
Secure Speech Device Worked with Bell Labs to develop SIGSALY (1942) A secure speech device that was used late in WW2 Developed “Delilah” (1944) A machine that could encrypt and decrypt electronic voice communications Was not used in war
Turing Test A fundamental idea in the field of Artificial Intelligence Introduced in the paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” (1950) “Imitation Game” Can a machine imitate a human so well that an interrogator does not have good chance of being able to tell them apart Closely related to the question, “Can Machines Think?” The correct interpretation of the Turing Test is debated
Death and Recognition Prosecuted for and convicted of homosexuality in 1952 Was still criminalized in the UK Died of cyanide poisoning in 1954 Speculated that he committed suicide A poisoned apple was used to administer the cyanide Posthumously pardoned on Dec 24, 2013 In 1966, the Turing Award was established in his honor Given by the Association for Computing Machinery Awarded for lasting technical contributions to the field of computing The “Nobel Price of Computing” Accompanied by a prize of $250,000 Awarded the OBE by King George VI for wartime services
Works Cited