The Smartest Computer-Generated Kid Ever Is Jewish

Eugene Goostman First To Pass as Human in Turing Test

By Hody Nemes for the Jewish Daily Forward

Eugene Goostman is thirteen years old. Eugene Goostman is Jewish. He’s from Ukraine. And, oh yes, Eugene Gosstman is a computer program.

On June 7, Eugene became the first computer program to pass the iconic Turing test of artificial intelligence, tricking several human judges into believing he was human. Alan Turing, the father of computer science, conceived of the test in 1950 as a way of measuring whether a computer could “think” like a human.

The achievement, if authentic, could be a turning point in the long quest by computer scientists in the artificial intelligence field to grasp their holy grail: a computer program that effectively mimics the human mind in complexity, nuance and idiosyncrasy in responding to human interaction.
But news of the feat was hardly out before it came under furious attack. The push-back was distilled succinctly by Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer scientist Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of artificial intelligence, who wrote the Forward simply: “No significance. Ignore it.”
Eugene’s creators are standing their ground.

“In the field of Artificial Intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test,” said Kevin Warwick, a visiting professor at Reading University who helped organize the event, in a statement. “This milestone will go down in history as one of the most exciting.”
A team of Russian, Ukrainian, and American-born programmers, Eugene’s “parents” gave their program a backstory and a strong personality to make it seem as realistic as possible. “We created a 13-year-old persona,” said John Denning, one of its programmers. “It’s got a potty mouth and it cracks jokes like a 13-year-old boy.”

 

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School's out...now what?

Summer is here and you know there are going to be time when your child will want to be inside on the TV or computer. Why not make it a productive time and send him/her to Mazel Days. It is run by Chabad but you will find links to fun sites for learning, both Jewish and secular, such as National Geographic for Kids and New York Philharmonic for Kids. You might even find yourself clicking away.

 

My Daughter’s Name is Creeping Up the Popularity List–and I Don’t Like It

By Alexis Kort for Raising Kvell

Oy vey! Charlotte just inched up another spot on the list of most popular baby names.

When we were thinking up names for our unborn child, we set on Charlotte, if it was a girl, about half way through the second trimester. My bubbie’s name was Cynthia, and we wanted to honor her memory with a “C”or “S” name. When we vetted the name to my parents over dinner one evening, months before my due date, my dad said he knew my Bubbie would have liked the name Charlotte, which sealed the deal.

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Kveller Story About Boy’s Leg Amputation Gets the Media Spotlight

By Molly Tolsky for Raising Kvell

Like just about everybody else, we here at Kveller love to get attention. But attention is that much sweeter when it means an amazing 11-year-old boy gets to share his story far and wide.



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Why Do So Many Moms Regret Having Kids?

 By Tova Ross for Kveller

A lot of the time that I read Jezebel, the preeminent feminist blog of our time, I find myself nodding along in agreement with its stances of equality, feminism, and personal choice, as well as its clever takes on pop culture (even if it’s a tad too snarky at times for my own taste). Jezebel generally offers commentary that I both recognize and learn from.


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