-THE BORACAY ISLAND LIFE-
Every time you open an app, run a software program, or type on a keyboard, you are using technology built on a framework designed by Alan Turing.
In 1936, at 24 years old, Turing published a paper titled "On Computable Numbers." In it, he introduced a theoretical model called the Universal Machine. At the time, "computers" were human beings doing calculations by hand. Turing envisioned a single machine that could perform any task if given the right instructions, essentially inventing the concept of software and programmable memory.
When World War II broke out in 1939, British intelligence recruited Turing to Bletchley Park. The German military used the Enigma machine to encrypt its communications. Enigma operated using rotating wheels and internal wiring that generated over 158 quintillion daily combinations. Manual deciphering was virtually impossible.
Turing recognized that human operators could not work fast enough to break the cipher daily. Polish cryptanalyst Marian Rejewski and his colleagues had previously cracked early military Enigma ciphers in late 1932 using permutation theory, and Rejewski later designed an electro-mechanical engine called the Bomba in 1938. When the German military added extra complexity on the eve of war, Turing expanded on the Polish groundwork to design a far more versatile British engine called the Bombe.
To make the machine operational at scale, cryptanalyst Gordon Welchman made a vital contribution. Welchman designed an addition called the "diagonal board," an electrical circuit that interconnected the Bombe's components and allowed it to exploit logical links between letters instantly. By running electrical current through simulated rotor positions, the Bombe used short stretches of guessed plain text (called "cribs") to eliminate millions of false combinations in minutes.
Official Bletchley Park historian Sir Harry Hinsley estimated that the intelligence generated at Bletchley Park shortened World War II by two to four years and saved millions of lives.
After the war, Turing returned to academia and pioneered early work in artificial intelligence, creating the "Turing Test" in 1950 to evaluate machine intelligence.
Yet, despite his contributions, the state turned against him. In January 1952, Turing reported a burglary at his home. During the investigation, police discovered he was in a relationship with another man. Under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, same-sex relationships were illegal in the United Kingdom.
Turing was arrested and charged with gross indecency. Because the entire Bletchley Park operation was classified under the Official Secrets Act, Turing was legally barred from telling the court or the public about his wartime service. He could not explain that he had helped save the nation.
To avoid prison and continue his mathematical research, Turing chose chemical probation through synthetic hormone injections. The conviction resulted in the revocation of his security clearance, barring him from government research and placing him under police surveillance.
On June 7, 1954, Alan Turing died of cyanide poisoning in his home. He was 41 years old.
The work that saved millions remained secret for another two decades. It was not until 1974 that the British government finally declassified the Ultra project, revealing Turing's central role in World War II to the public for the first time.
In 2009, the British Prime Minister issued an official apology for the treatment Turing received. In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous Royal Pardon. In 2017, the UK Parliament passed "Alan Turing's Law," retroactively pardoning thousands of men convicted under historical statutes. In 2021, the Bank of England placed Turing's portrait on the £50 banknote.
Alan Turing built the theoretical framework for the digital world, shortened the deadliest conflict in human history, and paid for it with his career and dignity.
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