Goedel's Incompleteness Theorem and the Emergence of AI

In 1931 at the age of just 25 years, the young Austrian mathematician Kurt Goedel proved an astonishing mathematical theorem that made him instantly famous and a celebrity in mathematical circles around the world (see picture; in the Anglo-Saxon literature Goedel is usually referred to as "Godel" skipping the Umlaut in his German name). Despite its very abstract nature and the lack of any every day practical use, Goedel's theorem - the so called Incompleteness Theorem - has had a dramatic and deep impact on mathematics itself and its foundations. It also had a substantial impact on the philosophy of the 20th century and our understanding of the general limitations of computers and algorithms. I will explain here how Goedel's theorem actually caused the emergence of the new science of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and theoretical computer science in the 1940s and 1950s and how it motivated such key AI pioneers like Alan Turing to get involved. The birth of AI and the course AI has taken ...