Last week, artificial intelligence hit a major milestone.
For the first time ever, a large language model officially passed the three-party Turing test – and did so more convincingly than actual humans. According to a new study by UC San Diego, GPT-4.5 was judged to be human 73% of the time when tested, outperforming even real human participants.
Let’s unpack what this means and why it matters.
What Is the Three-Party Turing Test?
The Turing test, originally proposed by Alan Turing, is a benchmark to assess whether a machine can mimic human behaviour. In the three-party version of the test, a participant chats with both an AI and a real human—but without knowing who’s who. After five minutes, they must decide which is the human.
If the AI is chosen as the human more often than not, it passes the test.
Key Findings from the Study
Here’s what the UC San Diego researchers discovered:
- GPT-4.5 was perceived as human 73% of the time. When prompted to act like a person, it not only passed the test—it outperformed human participants.
- Other models showed varied results. LLaMa-3.1-405B scored 56%, while older models like ELIZA and GPT-4o only reached 23% and 21% respectively.
- Clear instructions mattered. AIs that were specifically told to “act human” performed significantly better, highlighting the value of precise prompt design.
- Emotional intelligence played a key role. Rather than focusing solely on factual correctness, people evaluated human-likeness based on conversational flow and personality.
- Imperfections increased believability. AIs that showed doubt or made subtle errors were often seen as more convincingly human.
What Does This Mean for You?
This breakthrough invites us to reflect on what truly makes us human-especially in a world where AI can now replicate many aspects of human behaviour.
As AI continues to evolve, skills like empathy, adaptability, and collaboration with intelligent systems are becoming essential in the workplace.
To help professionals navigate this shift, CFTE has developed the Supercharged Programme – a future-ready course designed to give you the practical knowledge and human-centric skills needed to thrive alongside AI.
Explore the Supercharged Programme and prepare yourself for the next chapter in the AI-powered workplace. Discover the programme now.
