A brief history of AI

Artificial Intelligence is often referred to as “Al”.

What is the best way to explain a complex concept as the Arificial Intelligence ? to use the words of Douglas Hofstadter:

“The best way often, when I try to explain what is meant by the term, I say that the letters “AI” could just as well stand for “Artificial Intuition”, or even “Artificial Imagery”. The aim of Al is to get at what is happening when one’s mind silently and invisibly chooses, from a myriad alternatives, which one makes most sense in a very complex situation. In many real-life situations, deductive reasoning is inappropriate, not because it would give wrong answers, but because there are too many correct but irrelevant statements which can be made; there are just too many things to take into account simultaneously for reasoning alone to be sufficient.”

The concept of intelligent machines may be found in Greek mythology. Intelligent artifacts appear in literature since mechanical devices demonstrated to behave with some degree of intelligence. After modern computers became available it has become possible to realize some alogrithms that perform difficult intellectual tasks.

I summurized the key moments in the story of artificial intelligence by creating an original infographic timeline: