Scientist Alan Turing, considered the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence, has been honoured at King’s College, Cambridge, with a new sculpture nine years after it was first proposed.

The 3.7m high artwork by Sir Antony Gormley was unveiled at the university where Turing, best known for cracking the Enigma Code during the Second World War, studied mathematics and became a fellow of the college in 1935 when he was just 22 years of age. 

He was awarded an OBE in 1945 for his incredible work, but in 1952, he was sentenced to chemical castration after being convicted of “gross indecency” with another man. He died by suicide two years later after facing social ostracisation and mental health struggles as a result of his conviction.

It wasn’t until 2009 that the British Government issued a posthumous apology for the treatment that Turing had received. He was officially pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in 2019. 

The sculpture, titled ‘True”, comprises 19 Corten steel blocks that appear to balance impossibly on one another. It is positioned in front of the library arches, between two of the campus’s most historic buildings.

The artwork came under scrutiny in 2022 when Historic England lobbied Cambridge City Council to deny planning permission, saying, “We consider that it would harm the particular character, created by the interplay of buildings and landscape, which makes the college so remarkable a place.”

During his speech at the sculpture’s unveiling, Gormley quipped about the planning objection, explaining that he was worried that the design “wasn’t controversial enough”.

 

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He continued, “I’m amazed by the way the sculpture speaks to the buildings and the buildings to the sculpture. They’ve immediately entered a kind of dialogue.

“I have to say it took a long time to get here. It was 2015 when the journey started, and the planning permission was perhaps the biggest hurdle, though everyone agrees it looks like the sculpture has always been here.”

The unveiling of the sculpture was accompanied by an exhibition of archival material relating to Turing’s time at the university, including many letters from his teachers, lectures and other academics, which give a fascinating insight into the scholar’s life.

King’s College Provost Gillian Tett remarked on the importance of recognising Turing’s work. She explained, “We’re here to celebrate Alan Turing and this fantastic sculpture by Antony Gormley. I was at Davos last week and every single session included a discussion about AI.”

She also credited Gormley’s work, saying, “Antony Gormley’s sculpture is designed to reflect both Turing’s brilliance and his vulnerability, but at the same time the sculpture also embodies the transformation of the industrial into the information age. Alan Turing played a crucial part in this transformation, one that continues to reshape our world today.”