History Of AI In 33 Breakthroughs: The First 'Thinking Machine'

Many histories of AI start with Homer and his description of how the crippled, blacksmith god Hephaestus fashioned for himself self-propelled tripods on wheels and "golden" assistants, "in appearance like living young women" who "from the immortal gods learned how to do things." I prefer to stay as close as possible to the notion of "artificial intelligence" in the sense of intelligent humans actually creating, not just imagining, tools, mechanisms, and concepts for assisting our cognitive processes or automating (and imitating) them. UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1943: Machine's Can't Think (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images) In 1308, Catalan poet and theologian Ramon Llull completed Ars generalis ultima (The Ultimate General Art), further perfecting his method of using paper-based mechanical means to create new knowledge from combinations of concepts. Llull devised a system of thought that he wanted to impart to others to assist them in theological debates, among other intellectual pursuits. He wanted to create a universal language using a logical combination of terms.