Turing's 1951 'heretical' essay predicted machines would outthink humans and take control
JeffLadish · x · 2026-10-28
AI safety researcher Jeff Ladish shares passages from Turing's 1951 essay 'Intelligent Machinery, A Heretical Theory.' Turing argued machines could closely simulate the human mind, converse via keyboard, and play chess and Go. He predicted intellectuals would oppose thinking machines for fear of losing jobs — and be wrong — and that once machine thinking started, it would quickly outstrip human abilities, forcing us to expect machines 'to take control,' as in Butler's Erewhon.
Related event: Turing's 1951 Prediction Resurfaces: Machines May Outthink Humans(2 posts)→
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