[reed_inthe_wind]

First solve the Alan Turing challenge, then worry about utopia.

[Prime Choice]

First solve the Alan Turing challenge, then worry about utopia.

And don't forget Fermat's Last Theorem. And we'd like it solved in Euclidean geometry, thankyouverymuch!

[Elliott Jackalope]

The Turing test will soon be passed, probably within the next year or two. The machine that does this will not be sentient by any means. The only thing it will prove is that the Turing test did not set the bar high enough.

Personally, I subscribe to the "blue sky" theory of artificial sentience. As in, when a machine asks its creator, of its own free will, the question any five year old asks their parent. Said question being "Why is the sky blue". That will mark the beginning of truly sentient machines, at least as far as I'm concerned.