Miscellaneous

The science of artificial intelligence is a program to accomplish the Socratic injunction, "Know Thyself." The late John McCarthy, Ph.D., invented LISP, the major language today used for artificial intelligence. Here he discusses the history of artificial intelligence and the future role which non-monotonic reasoning will play in enabling computers to simulate the human mind.

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This is the story of the first office computer and its unlikely owners, J. Lyons and Co, a company better known for making cakes. Discover how computers became part of office life in our new Information Age gallery, opening 25 October 2014

The Lyons Electronic Office (LEO I) went into operation in 1951, transforming the working lives of employees and kick-starting the development of the British computer industry.

This state-of-the art 1950s computer was small enough to fit on a single floor of Lyons head office, and held a full 2 KB of information (about a side of A4). Not much by 21st century standards, but in 1951 it was more than in any other business in the world.

Part of the LEO I is on display in our Information Age gallery, which tells the story of how our lives have been transformed by information and communication technologies over the last 200 years.

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This is the very first robotized vacuum cleaner we did in the 80s ...

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ETH Zurich, Prof. Gerhard Schweitzer
Institut fur Robotik, 1988–1994

– Cooperating Robot
– PTT Project: Singulation of Postal Parcels
– MODRO: Modular Robot System
– Playing 'Nine Men's Morris' with a Robot
– Training a Robot to Grasp a Ball
– RoboTRAC: Robust Walking Machine
– Learning Artificial Arm
– Magnetic Bearings

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ETH Zurich, Prof. Gerhard Schweitzer
Institut f?r Robotik, 1988–1994

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Before there were smartphones, there were two millennia of calculators.

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A look at how far robotics has come.

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Why don’t we have robots taking care of our every need by now? A little history of the field of robotics might help you understand how hard it is to get machines to perform tasks, and how far we’ve come in just a few decades.

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The Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) is designed to enable non-contact inspection of containers at cargo terminals. The system was designed by SAIC (San Diego) for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The system uses a radioactive source to generate an image of the content of a container to allow inspection to see if the cargo matches the manifesto and if it contains suspicious items that warrant further inspection by human personnel. The VACIS system enables much faster and more comprehensive inspection of container cargo.

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With robots getting more and more present in our daily lives, it's interesting to look back and get to know the great minds who first conceived a future where machines would help humans.

Let's take a look today at 3 great minds who are among the Fathers of Robotics :
- Isaac Asimov and his books
- Joseph Engelberger and Unimate and HelpMate
- Ismail Al-Jazari and The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices

Let us know what you think in the comments below

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For thousands of years, people have dreamt of creating artificial life - telling stories of human-like creatures made of mud and brought to life. The theme can be found in folklore and fiction from over the ages and across cultures.

Get to know the origins of these strange and ancient stories. Tales that have foretold the rise of artificial intelligence - both in science fiction and in reality.

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Screen actor David Wayne chats with MIT Professor Jerome Wiesner on developments in computer research and artificial intelligence, as part of the “Tomorrow” television series produced by CBS for MIT on occasion of MIT’s Centennial in 1961. The program features the TX-O digital computer, an instrument that for the first time is enabling scientists to explore new frontiers of the human mind by showing what machines do that looks like “thinking”. We see how a computer can generate a Western story script, watch experiments in mind and computer research with children and animals, and hear a range of scientists, including Claude Shannon, Jerome Y. Lettvin, Douglas T. Ross, Ronald Melzach, Arthur L. Samuel and Barbel Inhelder state their convictions about the future role of computers in society. Film to HD transfer courtesy of MIT 150. MIT Museum Collections. [T6145]

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Get to know the myth of Talos, a robot powered by ichor and created by Hephaestus to defend the island kingdom of Crete from intruders.

Hephaestus, god of technology, was hard at work on his most ingenious invention yet. He was creating a new defense system for King Minos, who wanted fewer intruders on his island kingdom of Crete. But mortal guards and ordinary weapons wouldn’t suffice, so the visionary god devised an indomitable new defender. Adrienna Mayor dives into the myth of Talos: the first robot.

Lesson by Adrienne Mayor, directed by Cabong Studios.

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