We, Robot—Part 1: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future

Mechanical “beings” have been with us since ancient times. The myths of Greece, China, the Middle East and Norse mythology have all explored the use of machines—robots—that could lessen our work. In ancient literature, the Greek god Hephaestus created mechanical servants; Jewish legend described clay golems and Norse mythology described clay giants. There was also Galatea, the mythical statue of Pygmalion that came to life. In 1495, Leonardo da Vinci sketched plans for a humanoid robot that could sit up, wave its arms and move its head and jaw.

The word robot was introduced to the public in 1921 by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play Rossum’s Universal Robots. The word comes from robota which means “drudgery” or “hard work”.

Artificial Intelligence: Part 2--The Invisible Computer

Long-term, the PC and workstation will wither because computing access will be everywhere: in the walls, on wrists, and in ‘scrap computers’ (like scrap paper) lying about to be grabbed as needed — Mark Weiser, Xerox PARK

The Internet is like a twenty-foot tidal wave coming thousands of miles across the Pacific, and we are in kayaks — Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel

...By means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time. Rather the rough globe is a vast head, a brain, instinct with intelligence — Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The House of Seven Gables” (1851)

I'm back from (and survived) "Conversion 23", the SF & F Convention in Calgary, Canada. It was COOL! And a resounding success, not to mention FUN. I'll post more on it shortly (when I get a few choice pics that I'm sure you'll enjoy, if not raise you're eyebrows over...it is a convention, after all.) Meantime, here, as promised, is Part Two of my series on Artificial Intelligence, following my previous post, Part One -- Neural Implants: