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History of AI
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episodes
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thinkers
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books & papers
2
terms defined
The neighbourhood: history of AI and the ideas it travels with. Drag to roam, click a star for the episode, click a neighbour to travel.
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The lexicon
Every term the guests lean on, in plain language. Read one in full, or filter to find it.
What the corpus says
The throughline across every conversation that touches this idea.
Pamela McCorduck's book 'Machines Who Think' was a pioneering exploration of AI's mythological and philosophical roots, published in 1979.
Pamela McCorduck · Pamela McCorduck: Machines Who Think and the Early Days of AI
AI's foundational figures, like Newell and Simon, demonstrated early practical applications at the 1956 Dartmouth conference with The Logic Theorist.
Pamela McCorduck · Pamela McCorduck: Machines Who Think and the Early Days of AI
The concept of 'AI winter' is critiqued as a misrepresentation, with significant foundational research occurring despite a lack of monetization.
Pamela McCorduck · Pamela McCorduck: Machines Who Think and the Early Days of AI
The shift from symbolic AI to algorithmic approaches marked a surprising evolution in the field, with algorithms becoming central to AI research.
Pamela McCorduck · Pamela McCorduck: Machines Who Think and the Early Days of AI
Pamela McCorduck critiques the 'male gaze' in AI, suggesting it shapes perceptions and fears of machines surpassing humans.
Pamela McCorduck · Pamela McCorduck: Machines Who Think and the Early Days of AI
Voices on history of AI
4 standout quotes from across the corpus.
Go read
2 books and papers cited across these episodes.
For the specialist
What experts find new
2 expert-level takeaways for a specialist reader.
At the frontier
Still unresolved
1 open questions flagged across these conversations.
The thinkers
Who takes this idea on, by how often they return to it.