Conclusion

This chapter presents both natural (biological) and artificial (computer) approaches to several facets of intelligent behavior. By the 1940s, the major foundations of theoretical computer science, early digital computers, and the basic model for formal neurons were all in place. The concept of algorithm as a well-defined procedure for computation was central. According to the Church-Turing thesis, any computable function could be computed by a suitable algorithm on an abstract formal computer called a Turing machine. An exponentially rapid increase in computer speed occurred from the 1940s to the 1980s as vacuum tube logic elements were successively replaced by transistors, small integrated circuits, and very large-scale integrated circuits. These developments also had a profound impact on the development of machine intelligence. There are many problems whose solution appears to demonstrate intelligence. Consider, for example, the problem of finding the next move in a chess game.