This is the iconic and controversial Turing Test.
 I have spent my life working in Artificial Intelligence – and among other dubious claims to fame, am the world’s first human cyborg.
 So I am not surprised that debate has been raging since my colleagues at the University of Reading claimed that the test was finally passed after decades of trying.
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 And others have claimed that a computer posing as a 13-year-old boy ‘cheats’ by confusing the judge into thinking non-sequiturs, or lack of knowledge, is due to tender years rather than intellectual ability.
 But the judges were not told he was a teenager and Turing never suggested that artificial intelligence would have to pose as an adult – just that it fooled people to thinking it was human.
 Judges were free to ask the subjects any questions they liked in unrestricted conversations – and Eugene was clearly capable of holding its own.
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 Two thirds of our judges were still not fooled, which shows the machines still have some way to go before they take over the world.
 But it shows artificial intelligence is showing the appearance of getting cleverer.
 And it has practical benefits in combating cybercrime.