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PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
gence is silly. There is a chorus of critics who say that it is impossible
to build machines that can think. The human brain, they argue, is the
most complicated system that nature has ever created, at least in this
part of the galaxy, and any machine designed to reproduce human
thought is bound to fail. Philosopher John Searle of the University of
California at Berkeley and even renowned physicist Roger Penrose
of Oxford believe that machines are physically incapable of human
thought. Colin McGinn of Rutgers University says that artificial intelligence "is like slugs trying to do Freudian psychoanalysis. They just
don't have the conceptual equipment."
It is a question that has split the scientific community for over a
century: can machines think?
THE HISTORY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The idea of mechanical beings has long fascinated inventors, engineers, mathematicians, and dreamers. From the Tin Man in The Wizard ofOz, to the childlike robots of Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence: AI
to the murderous robots of The Terminator, the idea of machines that
act and think like people has fascinated us.
In Greek mythology the god Vulcan forged mechanical handmaidens of gold and three-legged tables that could move under their own
power. As early as 400 BC the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum wrote about the possibility of making a robot bird propelled by
steam power.
In the first century AD, Hero of Alexandria (credited with designing the first machine based on steam) designed automatons, one of
them with the ability to talk, according to legend. Nine hundred years
ago Al-Jazari designed and constructed automatic machines such as
water clocks, kitchen appliances, and musical instruments powered by
water.
In 1495 the great Renaissance Italian artist and scientist Leonardo
da Vinci drew diagrams of a robot knight that could sit up, wave its
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
gence is silly. There is a chorus of critics who say that it is impossible
to build machines that can think. The human brain, they argue, is the
most complicated system that nature has ever created, at least in this
part of the galaxy, and any machine designed to reproduce human
thought is bound to fail. Philosopher John Searle of the University of
California at Berkeley and even renowned physicist Roger Penrose
of Oxford believe that machines are physically incapable of human
thought. Colin McGinn of Rutgers University says that artificial intelligence "is like slugs trying to do Freudian psychoanalysis. They just
don't have the conceptual equipment."
It is a question that has split the scientific community for over a
century: can machines think?
THE HISTORY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The idea of mechanical beings has long fascinated inventors, engineers, mathematicians, and dreamers. From the Tin Man in The Wizard ofOz, to the childlike robots of Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence: AI
to the murderous robots of The Terminator, the idea of machines that
act and think like people has fascinated us.
In Greek mythology the god Vulcan forged mechanical handmaidens of gold and three-legged tables that could move under their own
power. As early as 400 BC the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum wrote about the possibility of making a robot bird propelled by
steam power.
In the first century AD, Hero of Alexandria (credited with designing the first machine based on steam) designed automatons, one of
them with the ability to talk, according to legend. Nine hundred years
ago Al-Jazari designed and constructed automatic machines such as
water clocks, kitchen appliances, and musical instruments powered by
water.
In 1495 the great Renaissance Italian artist and scientist Leonardo
da Vinci drew diagrams of a robot knight that could sit up, wave its