The Lay of the Turing Test

In Cambridge-town, as all should know,
Full five-and-sixty years ago,
There lived a sage, of fame enduring,
The great Professor Alan Turing.
Few scholars knew as much as he
Of logic, math, philosophy,
And he had laid a sound foundation
For analyzing computation.

In World War Two he'd played a part
Mighty though secret from the start.
His team at Bletchley found the key
To Hitler's code of mystery.
And thus they helped the Allies send
That dreadful monster to his end.
(As you may learn, if you will watch,
The film with Benny Cumberbatch,
And close beside him, shining brightly,
The lovely actress, Keira Knightley.)

Farsighted, Turing did foresee
How potent a machine might be,
And therefore asked himself, "What kind
Of a machine would have a mind?"
He found the answer he thought best,
And posited the Turing test.

"A machine that can engage in chat,
And freely talk of this or that,
Of Shakespeare's sonnets, summer days,
Whatever theme one wants to raise
And manage to converse so well,
That none who talk to it can tell
That it is not indeed a man;
Then its creator safely can
Assert that that machine must be
Intelligent, like you or me."

Ernie Davis, June 23, 2016.