Brian Christian, author of the new book, The Most Human Human, took on an unusual project: he tried to prove he was human. He participated in the Loebner Prize, the annual Turing Test, in which judges have text-based chats on a screen, and then have to decide if they are speaking to a human, or an artificial intelligence program. Along the way, he learned, as he puts it, “what talking with computers teaches us about what it means to be alive.” His book is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which humans and computers are deeply different.
A shorter version of this interview will air on the 143rd episode of Spark, but you can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 21:00]
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