British mathematician who invented theoretical computer science (the Turing machine, 1936), broke the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during WWII, and proposed the Turing Test for machine intelligence (1950) — before being prosecuted for homosexuality and dying in 1954.
Founded theoretical computer science and defined artificial intelligence — the Turing machine (a mathematical model of computation) proved what can and cannot be computed in principle, and his 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence' (1950) defined the AI research agenda for decades by asking 'Can machines think?' and proposing an empirical test.
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