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 problem of constructing a universal machine is not insoluble."
"If the man were to try and pretend to be the machine he would clearly make a very poor showing. He would be given away at once by slowness and inaccuracy in arithmetic."
"The original question, 'Can machines think?' I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion."
"I don't think that human beings are the be-all and end-all of creation."
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
Details
Cited in "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" or related discussions.
Date: c. 1950
WisdomVerification
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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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