 Much like the Turing test itself, Searle's argument has been both widely criticised and highly endorsed.Arguments such as Searle's and others working on the philosophy of mind sparked off a more intense debate about the nature of intelligence, the possibility of intelligent machines and the value of the Turing test that continued through the 1980s and 1990s.The Loebner Prize provides an annual platform for practical Turing tests with the first competition held in November 1991.