It is possible to identify several milestones that defined the modern development of intelligence, be it artificial or human intelligence. These milestones which occurred over centuries have defined what intelligence is, how it develops and how it is applied in today’s society. Ranging from philosophy of ancient world to Artificial Intelligence here are some of the greatest hits that tell the technological intelligence history.
Pre Socratic Philosophers and the Dawn of Philosophy and Logical Thinking
Interest in the notion of intelligence as is defined today has its roots in the field of ancient philosophy. In Greece, great philosophers and thinkers, starting from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle brought analytical thinking into the world. Among Aristotle’s works, logical ones such as the one that concerns syllogisms was truly engaging, as it deals with a particular way of reasoning in given situations to come up with a conclusion. It can be seen that these early attempts at logical and rational cognition laid the foundations for future types of universal abstractions and were later transmitted as intellectual activity.
The Printing Press: The Prehistory
In 1440, the most important invention by Johannes Gutenberg was the development of the printing press that changed the dissemination of knowledge and information. This brought a significant change in the society especially because it reduced the complexity of access to books and many scholarly publications. Free spread of knowledge gave a boost to the Renaissance and definitely to the Scientific Revolution making the society more knowledgeable and intellectually awakened one. The prerequisite of the revolution is attributed to the development the printing press that revolutionised the society and led to the enlightenment age that enhanced brain advancement.
The Enlightenment Era
The age of Enlightenment taking place in the 17th and 18th centuries, was an epoch of some grand changes in the sphere of thinking. The philosophy of rationalism which was championed by scholars like René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and John Locke was centered on reason and science as well as individualism as its key sources of information. Enlightenment for independence thinking and empiricism as its ground has directed the formation of the contemporary world science and critical thinking as the subsequent stage in the evolution of intelligence.
In order to approach the discussion of the rise of artificial intelligence, one must first consider the definition of the term and the field of its application.
The fifties can be regarded as the starting point of artificial intelligence (AI) development period. The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ was first used in 1956 in the conference conducted by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, Claude Shannon and this is regarded as the beginning of the formal AI era. The early developers who were working on AI had set out to build machines that could emulate the human brain and thus have developing/s of learning algorithms in it.
Brief History of Machine Learning
One of the major advances in contemporary intelligence history is connected with development of machine learning at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Consequently, unlike conventional programming that involves the assignment of specific tasks, machine learning enables the computer to learn from data as well as evolve. This has been significant in the progress of AI as it has made it possible for other forms of uses such as; image recognition, natural language processing, predictive analytics among others.
Neural networks are the type of algorithms that allow creating the Era of Deep Learning.
In the second decade of the twenty-first century, the set of technologies under the umbrella term of machine learning produced a novelty called deep learning. Deep learning is a categorization of machine learning that employs several layers for the detection of patterns from data input. This technology has driven considerable progress in AI across such applications as self-driven automobiles and enhanced voice-recognition applications thus bringing in a new age in AI advancements.
Conclusion
It is therefore possible to assert that the history of the contemporary intelligence reflects a progressive character and several significant steps that influenced its development. The philosophy and consequently the advancement of human and post human intelligence have evolved from the contributions made from the Greek inquisitive minds to AI advancements of today. That said, achievements outlined above, on the background of unfolding scientific and technological revolution, indicate that progress is never-ending and those milestones are the testimony of the great historical evolution of human intellect.
