Sociological Imagination of Alan Turing and Artificial Intelligence as Social Imaginary

Date

2015-09-01

Author

Topal, Çağatay

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C. W. Mills analyses sociological imagination as the ability to relate the most intimate to the most impersonal. There are essential linkages between personal troubles and social issues. The sociologist should be able to trace the linkages between biographies and histories. Sociological imagination necessitates sensibility, commitment and responsibility since doing sociology is a practice of life as well as a practice of work. Sociology is, then, a practice that potentially everyone can perform. The crucial condition is the existence of sociological imagination and sensibility. This sensibility indicates the capacity to picture a social imaginary, however broad or limited. This paper traces the sociological imagination of Alan Turing, often considered as the founder of modern computing technology. The history of Turing’s scientific endeavors follows (and is followed by) his biography, revealing the strong linkages between his life and work. Turing’s sensible, committed and responsible attitude is clear in several cases. This paper focuses on the case of artificial intelligence in order to assess Turing’s sociological imagination. Artificial intelligence may be one of the most promising paths in science history. This path, which Turing initiated through his research on computing, promises and defines more than it has already been. This paper asks to what extent artificial intelligence may be seen as the social imaginary of Alan Turing. It simultaneously, and inevitably, questions: to what extent Turing may be seen as a sociologist with the sensibility to imagine an integrated social picture

URI

http://esa12thconference.eu/sites/esa12thconference.eu/files/esa_2015_book_of_abstracts.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/85395

Conference Name

12th Conference of the European Sociological Association: Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination, (25 - 28 Ağustos 2015)

Collections

Department of Sociology, Conference / Seminar

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Citation Formats

Ç. Topal, “Sociological Imagination of Alan Turing and Artificial Intelligence as Social Imaginary,” presented at the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association: Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination, (25 - 28 Ağustos 2015), Praha, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 2015, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://esa12thconference.eu/sites/esa12thconference.eu/files/esa_2015_book_of_abstracts.pdf.