The Prof Who Bitched About The Manchester Mark 1

In the bitchy academic tradition, the Professor of Neurology at Manchester University, Sir Geoffrey Jefferson, decided to demean the development in the 1949 Lister Oration.

"Not until a machine can write a sonnet or compose a concerto because of thoughts and emotions felt, and not by the chance fall of symbols, could we agree that machine equals brain--that is, not only write it but know that it had written it", orated Sir Geoffrey, "no machine could feel pleasure at its success, grief when its valves fuse, be warmed by flattery, be made miserable by its mistakes, be charmed by sex, be angry or miserable when it cannot get what it wants."

Jefferson's Oration prompted a response in The Times from the head of the Mathematics Department at Manchester University, Max Newman, which contained the considered opinion of the great Alan Turing himself:

"This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be", stated Turing, "I do not see why it should not enter any of the fields normally covered by the human intellect and eventually compete on equal terms."