Mind who’s testing
Turing tests and the post-colonial imposition of their implicit conceptions of intelligence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20397019 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fabian Fischbach (0009-0008-5530-1536, corresponding author), Tijs Vandemeulebroucke (0000-0001-5683-6067, Institute of Science and Ethics), Aimee van Wynsberghe (0000-0003-4343-4178, Institute of Science and Ethics) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 995-1006 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | AI & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0951-5666 • E-ISSN: 1435-5655 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s00146-023-01796-w |
| OpenAlex | W4388089713 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 46 |
This paper aims to show that dominant conceptions of intelligence used in artificial intelligence (AI) are biased by normative assumptions that originate from the Global North, making it questionable if AI can be uncritically applied elsewhere without risking serious harm to vulnerable people. After the introduction in Sect. 1 we shortly present the history of IQ testing in Sect. 2, focusing on its multiple discriminatory biases. To determine how these biases came into existence, we define intelligence ontologically and underline its constructed and culturally variable character. Turning to AI, specifically the Turing Test (TT), in Sect. 3, we critically examine its underlying intelligence conceptions. The test has been of central influence in AI research and remains an important point of orientation. We argue that both the test itself and how it is used in practice risk promoting a limited conception of intelligence which solely originated in the Global North. Hence, this conception should be critically assessed in relation to the different global contexts in which AI technologies are and will be used. In Sect. 4, we highlight how unequal power relations in AI research are a real threat, rather than just philosophical sophistry while considering the history of IQ testing and the TT’s practical biases. In the last section, we examine the limits of our account and identify fields for further investigation. Tracing colonial continuities in AI intelligence research, this paper points to a more diverse and historically aware approach to the design, development, and use of AI
Cognitive science · Epistemology · Human intelligence · Normative · Sociology · Turing · Turing test · Computer Science · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Face Recognition and Perception · Language and cultural evolution · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
AI Ethics
Re-Engineering Humanity
Value Sensitive Design
Méthodes nouvelles pour le diagnostic du niveau intellectuel des anormaux
Don’t ask if artificial intelligence is good or fair, ask how it shifts power
Culture and point of view
"General Intelligence," Objectively Determined and Measured
Designing Robots for Care
Sustainable AI
Minds, brains, and programs
I.—computing Machinery and Intelligence
The bell curve
Algorithmic Colonization of Africa
A decolonial approach to AI in higher education teaching and learning
Nonhuman humanitarianism
In defense of the Turing test
Intelligence as a Social Concept
Decoloniality as the Future of Africa
Can artificial intelligence be decolonized
Ethics for the majority world
Culture and Intelligence
You can't take it with you
Deceitful Media
Implicit theories of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom
Data Colonialism
Potential History
The Epistemic Decolonial Turn
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |