Alan Turing — "One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each oth…"
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'.
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More from Alan Turing
"The machine should be able to carry out logical deductions."
"I like to think the brain is a kind of pudding, but not a Christmas pudding."
"The digital computer is a universal machine, capable of simulating any other machine."
"I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?' This should begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms 'machine' and 'think.'"
"The human mind is a parallel processor."
Details
Cited in "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" or related discussions.
Date: c. 1950
WisdomVerification
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Found in 1 providers: gemini
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Computers will eventually become personal companions woven into everyday life, not just institutional tools. Ordinary people will interact with them casually, sharing amusing exchanges as they would stories about pets or children. The quote anticipates a world where machine intelligence feels familiar, even endearing, rather than intimidating or remote.
Relevance to Alan Turing
Turing spent his career arguing machines could think and converse like humans, most formally in his 1950 paper proposing the Imitation Game. This whimsical prediction reflects both his conviction that machine intelligence was inevitable and his playful wit. He imagined AI as genuinely companionable long before personal computing existed.
The era
In the early 1950s, computers filled entire rooms, required specialist operators, and existed only in universities and government facilities. The idea of personal ownership was absurd. Turing's remark challenged that assumption at a moment when most scientists viewed computing as pure calculation, not conversation or relationship.
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