Episode 14 | September 26, 2024 

Mind to Machine Part 1: A Brief History of AI

 

If you think that Artificial Intelligence was recently invented, think again. The roots of AI go back decades, centuries, even to ancient mythology. So how did AI go from myth to reality?

In this, the first of a special two-part episode, we present a brief history of AI. We start with the first imagined robot in ancient Greece, fast-forward to Alan Turing’s groundbreaking work in computer science and then to the seminal 1956 summer workshop at Dartmouth College where the term “artificial intelligence” was coined. At that workshop, two Carnegie Mellon University professors, Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell, presented what is considered the first artificial intelligence program and the “birth” of the AI industry. We’ll hear from a few of the other early AI pioneers at CMU as they share personal stories and milestones in AI and robot development while discussing the societal impact of AI.

In part two, our season finale, we look to the future… and hear from these pioneers and more about where they think — and hope — What’s Next for AI, while discussing the need for guardrails and ethics around AI development.

Joining us are: Tom Mitchell, CMU Founders University Professor; Dr. Raj Reddy, Moza Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics in the School of Computer Science at CMU; and Dr. Manuela Veloso, the head of JP Morgan AI Research and the Herbert A. Simon University Professor Emeritus in the School of Computer Science at CMU.

Resources
Herbert Simon at the October 2000 Earthware Symposium(opens in new window)
Allen Newell in the 1991 Desires and Diversions video(opens in new window)
Raj Reddy in CMU Hearsay 1973 documentaryTyrannosaurus Rex? Let’s find out.(opens in new window)