Logic Theorist: The First AI Program#
The First Machine That Could Deduce Theorems#
1. Setting the Stage: Computing in the 1940s#
- Analog to digital transition: Early mechanical calculators were limited in speed and scope.
- ENIAC and early computers: The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) performed calculations but lacked logical reasoning capabilities.
- Post‑war research: Scientists from IBM, the University of Manchester, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began exploring programmable machines.
Contextual Insight: By the mid‑1940s, researchers recognized that programs could be stored in memory, giving a machine the ability to perform different tasks—an essential concept for modern AI.