Artificial Intelligence (AI) -- Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of "computers and machines to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind," according to IBM. [1] The idea of AI goes back at least 2,700 years. As Adrienne Mayor, research scholar, folklorist, and science historian at Stanford University, explained: "Our ability to imagine artificial intelligence goes back to the ancient times. Long before technological advances made self-moving devices possible, ideas about creating artificial life and robots were explored in ancient myths." Mayor noted that the myths about Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention and blacksmithing, included precursors to AI. For example, Hephaestus created the giant bronze man, Talos, which had a mysterious life force from the gods called ichor.