Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"I went back to science fiction to try a few experiments …and my first experiment was a disaster…"
- Alfred Bester

Artificial Intelligence  
  A machine or other created system able to respond in a human-like way to questions or problems.  

As far as I know, the first use of the term "artificial intelligence" in science fiction, and perhaps the first use of this phrase in its modern sense.

Grag, the towering manlike giant who bore in his metal frame the strength of an army and an artificial intelligence equal to the human, rumbled a question in his deep booming voice. But Curt Newton only vaguely heard him. His gaze had followed Joan’s out into the alien night. This was not his first visit to Europa.
Technovelgy from Moon of the Unforgotten, by Edmond Hamilton.
Published by Startling Stories in 1951
Additional resources -

This phrase was used in the 19th century, but not in the sense of a sentient machine. For example, in Mr. Gladstone's Work, an essay by R. Giffen published in 1869 in The Fortnightly Review:

He has been compelled to create an artificial intelligence, an artificial agitation, to supply the place of feelings his predecessor had at command.

Or earlier in this article Present Inefficiency in the Jury System in The Law Magazine, Or, Quarterly Review of Jurisprudence (1849):

While therefore we would desire our juries to be moulded after a higher standard, we do not mean that we want in them a superior degree of particular, partial or artificial intelligence, but a legal guarantee for greater general and judicial talent.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists the following proposal as the first use of the phrase "artificial intelligence":

"A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence" authored by John McCarthy [credited with coining the phrase], Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude E. Shannon.

The proposal aimed to study if machines could use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves.

The conference was actually held from June 19 to August 16, 1956, at Dartmouth College; widely recognized as the birth of AI as a field of study.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Moon of the Unforgotten
  More Ideas and Technology by Edmond Hamilton
  Tech news articles related to Moon of the Unforgotten
  Tech news articles related to works by Edmond Hamilton

Artificial Intelligence-related news articles:
  - Stargate $500 Billion Investment in Artificial Intelligence

Articles related to Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'

Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'

Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'

Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'

Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'

Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.

'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'

Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'

Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'

DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.