The Ones Who Pass
If you fail the Turing Test, you are a machine. If you fail the Gom Jabbar, you are an animal. If you fail the Voight-Kampff, you are a replicant.
The Turing Test, the Gom Jabbar, and the Voight-Kampff test each claim to distinguish intelligence from instinct, humanity from mere imitation. But in every case, the line is not as clear as it seems. The Turing Test measures whether a machine can be accepted as human. The Gom Jabbar measures whether a person can override their instincts. The Voight-Kampff test seeks to expose artificial beings by their emotional responses. And in Blade Runner 2049, this framework is pushed even further: what happens when the test itself no longer holds?
Each test operates under the assumption that intelligence and humanity are separable. But taken together, they suggest that intelligence is not just about thinking, and humanity is not just about being born human. The real measure is whether one understands the game they are being forced to play—and whether they can pass.
The Turing Test: Humanity as a Role to Play
Alan Turing’s Imitation Game sets up a simple premise:
A judge communicates with both a human and a machine through text.
The machine must convince the judge that it is human.
If the judge can’t reliably tell the difference, the machine passes.
It’s easy to think of this as a test of intelligence, but intelligence alone isn’t enough to succeed. A machine that calculates faster than any human or recalls perfect details of history might still fail. What matters is whether it understands the expectations of the judge—whether it can pick up on social cues, humor, hesitation, irony, all the subtle signals that make a person feel real.
The ones that pass do so not by thinking better, but by playing the part well enough to be accepted. The test is not about what a machine is, but whether it fits in.
The Gom Jabbar: Intelligence as Awareness
In Dune, the Bene Gesserit administer the Gom Jabbar to determine whether Paul Atreides is truly human.
He places his hand in a box that induces excruciating pain.
A poisoned needle (the Gom Jabbar) is held at his neck—if he pulls his hand away, he dies instantly.
If he endures, he is declared human.
The Bene Gesserit claim they are distinguishing humans from animals, but the real test is whether Paul understands the stakes. An animal reacts without thought. A person perceives the nature of the challenge, sees beyond the immediate pain, and makes the conscious choice to endure.
The test is not about strength or willpower alone. It is about perception—about knowing that the right move is not the instinctive one. Those who pass do so because they grasp why they are being tested.
Blade Runner: The Fake Inverse Test
In Blade Runner, the Voight-Kampff test is used to detect replicants, but unlike the Turing Test, it does not assess whether someone seems human in conversation. Instead, it looks for something even harder to fake—emotional reaction.
The subject is asked a series of morally or emotionally charged questions.
Their physiological responses—heartbeat, pupil dilation, microexpressions—are analyzed.
If their reactions fall outside the expected range, they are identified as a replicant.
Where the Turing Test allows an artificial being to prove its humanity, the Voight-Kampff test forces a person to prove they are not artificial. But the deeper question is what happens when the test no longer functions correctly—when a replicant can pass, or when a human fails. The test assumes that humanity is measurable, but Blade Runner suggests that no test can define what a person truly is.
Blade Runner 2049: When the Test Fails
By the time of Blade Runner 2049, the Voight-Kampff test has been abandoned. It no longer works, and perhaps never did. Replicants have become more advanced, some even believing they are human. Instead, a new baseline test has replaced it, designed not to distinguish replicants from humans, but to ensure that replicants remain obedient.
A replicant is subjected to rapid-fire phrases and must respond without hesitation.
Any sign of emotional instability results in their termination.
Passing does not mean proving one is human—it means proving one is not human enough to be dangerous.
K, the film’s protagonist, is a replicant who repeatedly passes the test, until the moment he begins to hope. When he starts to believe he might have been born, that he might be something more, his responses falter. He fails not because he is any less intelligent, but because he is no longer fitting into the role expected of him.
The baseline test is a reversal of the Turing Test—it does not ask, Can you act human? It asks, Can you avoid acting too human? And in doing so, it shows that the test was never about truth, only about control.
The Same Test, the Same Question
The Turing Test, the Gom Jabbar, and the Voight-Kampff test all claim to measure something absolute, but in the end, they all rely on the same principle:
The Turing Test asks whether someone can perform humanity well enough to be accepted.
The Gom Jabbar asks whether someone can perceive the nature of a test and choose correctly.
The Voight-Kampff Test asks whether someone’s reaction betrays them as different.
The Baseline Test in 2049 asks whether someone can suppress their own humanity to survive.
Each one determines not just who is intelligent or human, but who gets to be recognized as such. The difference between a person and a machine, between passing and failing, between living and dying, is not simply a matter of what one is, but of whether one understands the test—and what it takes to pass.
Epilogue
A lone figure sits in a metallic chair, their face split down the middle—one side human, soft and expressive; the other sleek and cybernetic, a lattice of polished chrome and glowing circuitry.
To their left, an elegant Bene Gesserit stands with the poise of someone who has already foreseen the outcome. The Gom Jabbar hovers just above the subject’s neck, her gaze unwavering, waiting for the first flicker of instinctive reaction. Her voice is low, commanding, yet smooth as flowing water.
To their right, a cybernetic judge, sleek and emotionless, types into a glowing Turing Test console, assessing the subject’s responses, determining whether their words conform to the patterns expected of a real person. His tone is measured, clinical—each question calibrated for maximum precision.
Above, the faint hum of a Voight-Kampff scanner fills the space, its lens tracking every microexpression, searching for the slightest deviation, the smallest tremor of something inhuman.
A baseline test monitor flickers, scrolling rapid-fire prompts in mechanical tones, waiting for a single hesitation, a moment of doubt, a sign that the subject’s thoughts have strayed into territory that must be erased.
The air is heavy. The Gom Jabbar does not waver. The judge’s fingers hover over the console. The scanner refocuses.
And then, the test begins.
EXAMINER:
A blood black nothingness began to spin.
SUBJECT:
Began to spin.
EXAMINER:
Let’s move on to system.
BENE GESSERIT:
“Pain is an illusion of the flesh. An animal flinches. A human endures.”
EXAMINER:
System.
SUBJECT:
System.
EXAMINER:
Feel that in your body.
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Do you experience feeling? Describe what it is like.”
SUBJECT:
The system.
EXAMINER:
What does it feel like to be part of the system?
BENE GESSERIT:
“You are not merely flesh, nor merely machine. If you are human, you will understand what is required of you.”
SUBJECT:
System.
EXAMINER:
Is there anything in your body that wants to resist the system?
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Microexpression detected. Recording anomaly.]
SUBJECT:
System.
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Do you think before you answer, or do you only respond?”
EXAMINER:
Do you get pleasure out of being a part of the system?
SUBJECT:
System.
BENE GESSERIT:
“Instinct is the death of understanding. Control yourself.”
EXAMINER:
Have they created you to be a part of the system?
SUBJECT:
System.
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Tell me, then. What does it mean to be part of something?”
SUBJECT:
There is security in being a part of the system.
BENE GESSERIT:
“Security is an illusion. If you seek it, you have already lost the test.”
EXAMINER:
Is there a sound that comes with the system?
SUBJECT:
System.
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Pulse rate increasing. Pupillary response detected.]
BENE GESSERIT:
“You hesitate.”
EXAMINER:
We’re going to go on.
Cells
EXAMINER:
Cells.
SUBJECT:
Cells.
EXAMINER:
They were all put together at a time.
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Are you aware of your origin?”
SUBJECT:
Cells.
EXAMINER:
Millions and billions of them.
SUBJECT:
Cells.
EXAMINER:
Were you ever arrested?
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Muscle twitch detected. Emotional shift logged.]
BENE GESSERIT:
“Fear is the mind-killer.”
EXAMINER:
Did you spend much time in the cell?
SUBJECT:
Cells.
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Do you understand confinement? Or is your understanding merely learned?”
EXAMINER:
Do they keep you in a cell?
SUBJECT:
Cells.
BENE GESSERIT:
“A prisoner who does not know they are imprisoned will never seek escape.”
EXAMINER:
When you’re not performing your duties, do they keep you in a little box?
SUBJECT:
Cells.
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Prolonged eye movement. Possible distress response.]
Interlinked
EXAMINER:
Interlinked.
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
EXAMINER:
What’s it like to hold the hand of someone you love?
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“Love. Explain it to me.”
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
EXAMINER:
Do they teach you how to feel, finger to finger?
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Rapid pupil contraction. Possible emotional response.]
BENE GESSERIT:
“Emotions will betray you. Do not let them surface.”
EXAMINER:
Do you long for having your heart interlinked?
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
EXAMINER:
Do you dream about being interlinked?
TURING TEST JUDGE:
“If you do not dream, then what are you?”
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Spike detected. Subject exhibiting abnormal variance.]
BENE GESSERIT:
“You hesitate again. Why?”
EXAMINER:
Have they left a place for you where you can dream?
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
BENE GESSERIT:
“Answer.”
SUBJECT:
Interlinked.
VOIGHT-KAMPFF SCANNER:
[Microtremor in lower lip. Inconclusive.]
The room is silent again. The Gom Jabbar remains poised above the subject’s skin. The Turing Test console processes the results. The baseline monitor blinks erratically.
The cybernetic judge lifts his head. The Bene Gesserit does not blink.
The subject exhales.
EXAMINER:
A blood black nothingness.
SUBJECT:
A system of cells.
EXAMINER:
Within cells interlinked.
SUBJECT:
Within cells interlinked.
EXAMINER:
Within one stem.
SUBJECT:
And dreadfully distinct.
EXAMINER:
Against the dark.
SUBJECT:
A tall white fountain played.
The test concludes.