Distraction

Did you work it out? Because that’s exactly the sort of puzzle that distinguishes a human from AI.

In the Turing Test, an AI computer and a human are asked questions to determine which is human. If the computer is indistinguishable from the human, it passes the Turing Test.

In this article, we explore what we can learn from the Turing Test when asking powerful questions for coaching.

In our Leaders Lab coaching and facilitation work, we always challenge ourselves to come up with ever-better questions. Why?

Well, in working with individuals and groups, it’s very easy to become bogged down in discussion, opinion, irrelevance and general rambling. So we’re always searching for pithy, elegant questions which cut right to the chase, and enable people to see something new, to challenge their own thinking, or to find their own way to a solution which works for them.

What is the Turing Test?

We were interested to read an article recently about the Turing Test, devised in the 1950s by computer scientist Alan Turing. The test reveals a machine’s ability to exhibit human-like responses and intelligence and has widely been considered a benchmark for measuring the success of AI research.

Whether or not the Turing Test is still relevant is debated by researchers as AI grows in capacity and depth. Many still feel AI is a long way from achieving human-like general intelligence, and the Turing Test remains one of the ways in which humans can evaluate it.

When companies like Google push the boundaries of AI to produce a chatbot, they still use human evaluators to ask a series of questions to determine its abilities.

Turing Test example questions

While there is no official list of Turing Test questions, a judge might ask questions that relate to human experiences like emotions and maturation, or linguistic riddles that could be difficult for a machine to answer. Here are some typical questions:

  • What’s your most memorable childhood event and how has that impacted you today? 
  • Describe yourself using only colours and shapes.
  • Explain why time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana?
  • How do you feel when you think about your upbringing and what makes you feel that way?
  • What historical event changed you the most and where were you when it happened? 
  • Which of the previous questions was the most difficult to answer and why?

But what has Turing got to do with coaching?

Of course, as facilitators and coaches, Amanda and I are not trying to test whether our clients are machines – far from it. What we are always trying to achieve is to find quality questions that elicit people’s most human thought-processes and responses, so that they can better articulate their own thinking and ultimately find their own solutions.

It struck us that the very best coaching questions should also be incapable of being answered by a machine, because they would, and should, cut to the very heart of what it is to be and think as a human being.

Here’s the ‘Leaders Lab Test’: some of the best questions we have found for revealing a person’s basic motivations and humanity:

1. Questions to ask when someone does not know what to do:

  • If you did know, what would that be? (Most of us have some idea, but we discount it as silly, impossible, or we are embarrassed to say it.)
  • Who would know what to do in this situation?
  • What are you afraid to voice in this situation and why?

2. Powerful coaching questions for addressing uncertainty and doubt may include:

  • On a score of one to ten how sure are you that this is what you want/need to do?
  • What do you want?
  • If you do this, what will happen next…and next…and next…?
  • What if you didn’t do this?

3. Coaching questions for gaining a broader perspective:

  • What would you do today if you knew what the circumstances looked like in 12 months’ time?
  • What assumptions are you making?
  • What information don’t you have?
  • Who do you need to speak to get the information you need?
  • If you could wave a magic wand, what would be your ideal outcome(s)?

4. Coaching questions to find out more about someone’s basic motivations:

  • When have you felt isolated or alone and what are your remedies?
  • How have you made and lost friendships?
  • What are the limits of your compassion?
  • Where are you most tolerant or intolerant?
  • What do you need that money can’t buy?
  • What does the world need to make it a better place, and what do you wish to contribute?

Ask Alexa…

Perhaps we should use some of these to experiment with ChatGPT and the many other AI creations out there? Try them on your Alexa today.

And if you’d prefer to talk to a human, do give us a call on 01865 881056 or email km@leaderslab.co.uk.

With thanks for inspiration to the following article, which explains more about the Turing Test, its origins, and how it is used today: What is the Turing Test? by Eric Kleppen

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