Mathematical reasoning may be regarded rather schematically as the exercise of a combination of two facilities, which we may call intuition and ingenuity.
Alan TuringRead
Instruction tables will have to be made up by mathematicians with computing experience and perhaps a certain puzzle-solving ability. There need be no real danger of it ever becoming a drudge, for any processes that are quite mechanical may be turned over to the machine itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the necessity for mathematicians in creating structured instruction tables for machines, while also suggesting that tedious mechanical tasks can be automated.
Alan Turing highlights the critical role of mathematicians in developing the underlying frameworks necessary for computers to perform complex tasks. He expresses confidence that tedious and routine processes can be relegated to machines, thus freeing humans to engage in more creative and intellectually stimulating activities.
Themes
MathematiciansComputingInstruction TablesMechanical ProcessesAutomation
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on artificial intelligence, you could use the quote to illustrate the importance of foundational work in programming.
More from Alan Turing
All quotes →I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted.
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Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.
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I am not very impressed with theological arguments whatever they may be used to support. Such arguments have often been found unsatisfactory in the past. In the time of Galileo it was argued that the texts, 'And the sun stood still... and hasted not to go down about a whole day' (Joshua x. 13) and 'He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not move at any time' (Psalm cv. 5) were an adequate refutation of the Copernican theory.
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It seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers… They would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits. At some stage therefore, we should have to expect the machines to take control.
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