The Quest for Intelligence

World Context (Juxtaposition)

~ 800 BCE: Homer’s Iliad describes Hephaestus’s automatons, an early concept of artificial beings.

~ 800 BCE: Founding of Rome. Iron Age expansion; Olympic Games established.

~ 350 BCE: Aristotle formulates syllogistic logic, the foundation for formal reasoning.

~ 300 BCE: Hellenistic Period begins, spreading Greek ideas across continents.

1495: Leonardo da Vinci designs the Mechanical Knight, an early humanoid automaton.

1492: Columbus reaches the Americas, starting the Age of Exploration.

1801: Jacquard Loom invented, using punch cards to automate weaving; a precursor to programming.

1789: French Revolution begins, reshaping Europe. Industrial Revolution underway.

1818: Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, a seminal novel exploring the ethical consequences of creating artificial life through science. 

Early 1800s: Romanticism movement reacts against Industrial Revolution, emphasizing emotion, nature, and the perils of unchecked science.

1837: Babbage designs the Analytical Engine, the first programmable computer concept. Lovelace writes the first algorithm.

Mid-1800s: American Civil War. Telegraph revolutionizes long-distance communication.

1898: Tesla demonstrates a radio-controlled boat, pioneering remote-controlled machines.

Late 1800s: Gilded Age of US industrialization. European «Scramble for Africa.»

The Quest for Intelligence

World Context (Juxtaposition)

1921: Term «robot» coined in Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R., introducing artificial people to the public.

1914-1918: World War I. Industrial-scale war changes technology’s role in conflict.

1943: First mathematical model of a neural network published by McCulloch & Pitts.

1939-1945: World War II. Radar, atomic bomb, and code-breaking demonstrate applied science’s power.

1950: Alan Turing proposes the Turing Test for machine intelligence.

1947: Cold War Begins. Geopolitical tension drives funding for advanced research like computing.

1956: Dartmouth Conference coins the term «Artificial Intelligence,» establishing the field.

1957: USSR launches Sputnik. Triggers Western investment in science and tech (e.g., NASA).

The Quest for Intelligence

World Context (Juxtaposition)

1960: James L. Adam builds the Stanford Cart, an early pioneer in autonomous vehicle research.

1960s: The Cold War intensifies with events like the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).

1966: First chatbot, ELIZA, created at MIT, surprising with its perceived empathy.

1969: Moon Landing. Peak computing achievement. ARPANET (early internet) is founded.

1966: Shakey the Robot is created at SRI International; it is the first general-purpose mobile robot to reason about its own actions.

1969: Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey features HAL 9000, a sentient and malevolent AI, with consultant Marvin Minsky.

1980s: Expert Systems become first successful commercial AI, using rules for specific tasks.

1980s: The PC revolution brings computing into homes.

1982: Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, explores the impact of machines on concepts of identity and humanity.

1989: Berlin Wall Falls. Ends Cold War.

The Quest for Intelligence

World Context (Juxtaposition)

1997: IBM’s Deep Blue defeats chess champion Garry Kasparov.

1991: World Wide Web launches, revolutionizing communication and information access.

1999: The Wachowskis’ film The Matrix depicts a power struggle between humanity and sentient machines.

1998: Google founded. Its algorithms and data centers power the modern internet.

1999: Sony releases AIBO, the first commercially available robotic pet dog.

2000s: Field pivots to machine learning, using data instead of hard-coded rules.

The Quest for Intelligence

World Context (Juxtaposition)

2010: Hiroshi Ishiguro unveils the Geminoid, a highly realistic humanoid android.

2007-2010: The Rise of the Smartphone. Puts powerful connected computers in billions of pockets.

2012: AlexNet wins key image contest, sparking the deep learning revolution.

2015: The Future of Life Institute publishes open letters signed by thousands of experts calling for beneficial AI research and a ban on autonomous weapons.

2016: Major political upheavals such as the Brexit referendum and the US presidential election highlight the growing power of social media algorithms.

2016: AlphaGo defeats master Lee Sedol in intuitive game of Go.

2020 – 2025 : semiconductors evolved from important components to foundational technologies, market value goes over $4 trillion. The new strategic asset of geopolitical and economic power.

2023-2025 Ukraine invasion re-established large-scale conventional warfare in Europe, while the Gaza war highlights the persistent lethality of asymmetric urban conflict, together demonstrating a fractured global order.