Jean Hall, an early computer scientist and pioneer into the realm of digital computers, feeds perforated paper into an early computing machine in 1953.The essence of the very concept of “artificial intelligence” is inherently cold. Cool metal encasing a mess of silicon and wires buzzing with processed data. No, the computer cannot “feel” or even “think,” but that sense of emotional scarcity often gets attributed to the scientists and researchers who helped create what we know as AI.
Enough—enough is the answer. The starched writing of a 1960s academic is burned with with few hints of excitement like the scattered ash of a cigarette left on a white page, but they are there, hidden in the technical jargon of faded research papers and technical documents. In a letter fromto a friend in 1964, he touched on the metaphysical nature of intelligence. He claimed that human intelligence is an “illusion,” that we’re barely more than computers with large storage capacity.
At the annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, a gathering of antique and rare booksellers from around the world, one small booth by the UK-based Christian White Rare Books contained a single shelf of old, yellowing documents, photos, and other paraphernalia relating to the early days and research into artificial intelligence.