Image: Alan Turing in 1936 at Princeton University (Public Domain)
The lifesize digital character will be able to “converse naturally with visitors in a range of languages”.
Milton Keynes’ heritage attraction Bletchley Park is to introduce a new interactive display, a lifesize version of computer scientist Alan Turing which will utilise artificial intelligence.
The display is a collaboration between Bletchley Park Trust and an AI company ‘1956 Individuals’ which claims the lifesize digital character can “converse naturally with visitors in a range of languages”.
The company said the display will utilise facial recognition, tailoring its responses based on whether it’s speaking with an individual, a group, or even children in what it claims is a “world-first”.
The creation of Turing’s digital likeness and voice is currently underway and is expected to take several months with the assistance of UK gaming industry artists. The display will open at the same time as a new exhibition at Bletchley Park on AI.
Sir Dermot Turing, nephew of Turing and recent trustee of the Bletchley Park Trust, said: “Alan Turing’s pioneering research on machine learning can be traced back directly to his work with machine solutions to codebreaking problems at Bletchley Park during World War Two. I know lots of people come to Bletchley Park to get a bit closer to Alan Turing, and this will be a fun way to do that.”
Bletchley Park’s Director of Public Engagement, Rebecca Foy said “we are looking forward to introducing our visitors to our wartime story in a new and exciting way, highlighting the part that Codebreakers, such as Alan Turing, played in the emergence of machine learning. Alan Turing is considered the father of AI. Even without his wartime work at Bletchley Park, he would rightly be famous for his pioneering computing work alone.”
“We couldn’t think of a better person to recreate in AI form than Alan Turing,” added Babita Devi, Chief Strategy Officer of 1956 Individuals.
“Visitors will be able to engage with his story in a new and compelling way, hopefully getting to know him and Bletchley Park a little better. This is a new and exciting form of interpretation, and we applaud Bletchley Park for their ambition and imagination.”