ABSTRACT
I n which we encounter the earliest attempts to automate some of the processes of human thought. These two chapters span a period of almost seven centuries, witnessing the creation of mechanical devices
that could talk, compose music and solve problems in logic. The advent of electrical technology made possible the creation of the first machines for playing games and translating languages, as well as the first autonomous robots, and by the end of this era, in the mid-twentieth century, the birth of the computer had spawned ideas for “thinking machines” that could outperform the best humans at a host of intellectually demanding tasks.
