Robots and Artificial Intelligence Have Ancient Mythology Origins

Isma'il Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, an engineer born in the 12th century in what is now Turkey, designed and built many intricate machines, including fountains and a water-powered alarm clock -- and even wrote a book about the science of building them: The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. But it was likely his automatons that have caused some to call him "the father of robotics." These included a mechanical serving girl that poured tea and a quartet of robots that played several different tunes and could be "programmed" to play different beats.