The father of the modern computer, Alan Turing, will be honoured at a four day conference at the University of Manchester this summer.
The computer scientist, mathematician and code-breaker is known for coming up with a host of ideas for creating a ‘universal computing machine’ and making contributions to world of philosophy and the study of the mind.
Organiser of the conference Professor Andrei Voronkov said: “To celebrate his centenary and his work at The University of Manchester we decided to organise a conference to remember, aimed at pushing forward our understanding of the most fundamental and important issues in the information science and artificial intelligence, including the nature of human mind, the possibilities and limits of artificial intelligence, and the role and the nature of mathematics in them.”
Turing was especially interested in the theory that computers could become so complex in the future that they could essentially run independently of human intervention.
Dr David Ferrucci, the head of the Watson project at IBM, who will be leading one of the speeches, said: “Alan Turing left us with a remarkably inviting, essential and universally stimulating challenge – can computers exhibit a thinking and communicating behaviour so similar to ours that it would be ostensibly indistinguishable?”
Two public lectures will take place at the event and one of the key speakers will be Google Senior Vice-president Dr Vint Cerf. Turing’s legacy and its impact on the digital age will be discussed in addition to the future of computer technology and science.
A further 17 lectures, two panel discussions and a presentation of awards will be scattered throughout the four-day convention held between June 22nd to 25th.
