Between 1946 and 1956, a number of BBC radio broadcasts were made by pioneers in the fields of computing, artificial intelligence and cybernetics. Although no sound recordings of the broadcasts survive, transcripts are held at the BBC's Written Archives Centre at Caversham in the UK. This paper is based on a study of these transcripts, which have received little attention from historians. The paper surveys the range of computer-related broadcasts during 1946-1956 and discusses some recurring themes from the broadcasts, especially the relationship of'artificial intelligence' to human intelligence.

"The modern general-purpose computer can be characterized as the embodiment of a three-point philosophy: (1) There shall exist a way of computing anything computable; (2) The computer shall be so fast that it does not matter how complicated the way is; and (3) Man shall be so intelligent that he will be able to discern the way and instruct the computer." Proceedings of the 1955 Western Joint Computer Conference, Institute of Radio Engineers, New York, pp 101-108, 1955. (Also issued as RAND Technical Report P-620.)

Did you know your Organization can subscribe to the ACM Digital Library?

I don't say "beat" its designer; I say Let us assume that the machine cannot analyze the position right out and that it must make judgments. The problem, then, becomes that the machine must form its own criteria for judgment, and, if it is to beat its designer, it must form better judgments than the designer can put into it. Can we build such a machine? The problem that faces the designer is the same as that of the father who is not a good chess player and who wants his son to become world champion. Obviously, he must be very careful about what he teaches the boy.

' This work was done in collaboration with Drs. But it is attenuated because the electrode computes a weighted average over a volume of a function whose own average is zero. To this external medium, the nerve appears to produce, absorb, then produce current when a spike passes; from this probe's standpoint of view, the impulse is a source, followed by sink, followed by source. Their algebraic sum in time is zero, unless the impulse stops either at the electrode or short of it. In the former case, the preceding source is averaged with the initial part of the sink, but the stationary decaying sink is recorded as a large negative potential with respect to a remote electrode.

It was named M achina speculatrix. "conditioned reflexes" brought the study The conditioned, 01' neutral, stimulus to which In M spheri-latrix we had:1 reflex. MACHINA SPECULATRIX, photographed by time cx-POSUI'E, is attracted by light in hutch at right. CONDITIONED REFLEX requires this arrangement of nerve cells. With this arrangement the model is reasonably docile.

A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Sorry, we just need to make sure you're not a robot. For best results, please make sure your browser is accepting cookies.

Full text available for a fee. (The paper was first presented in March 1950 at the National Institute for Radio Engineers Convention in New York.)See also: summary slidesPhilosophical Magazine (Series 7) 41:256-275

The possible ways in which machinery might be made to show intelligent behaviour are discussed. The analogy with the human brain is used as a guiding principle. It is pointed out that the potentialities of the human intelligence can only be realized if suitable education is provided. The investigation mainly centres round an analogous teaching process applied to machines. The idea of an unorganized machine is defined, and it is suggested that the infant human cortex is of this nature. Simple examples of such machines are given, and their education by means of rewards and punishments is discussed.