1275 ⟶ Ramon Llull's Ars Magna and Mechanical Reasoning

Ramon Llull, Mallorcan theologian, invents the Ars Magna, a ...
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260
1275
1679
1726

🕸️ Porphyry's Isagogê and Early Semantic Net

Porphyry wrote Isagogê which categorized knowledge and logic, including a drawing of what would later be called a "Semantic net".⟶
Porphyry's Isagogê and Early Semantic Net (260)
LogicKnowledge RepresentationSemantic NetworksPhilosophyAncient GreeceCategorizationConcepts
GreeceGreece

⚙️ Ramon Llull's Ars Magna and Mechanical Reasoning

Ramon Llull, Mallorcan theologian, invents the Ars Magna, a tool for combining concepts mechanically based on an Arabic astrological tool, the Zairja. Llull described his machines as mechanical entities that could combine basic truth and facts to produce advanced knowledge. The method would be developed further by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the 17th century.⟶
Ramon Llull's Ars Magna and Mechanical Reasoning (1275)
LogicMechanical ReasoningKnowledge RepresentationArs MagnaPhilosophyCombinatorial SystemsEarly AI Concepts
SpainSpain

✍️ Leibniz's Universal Calculus of Reasoning

Leibniz developed a universal calculus of reasoning (Alphabet of human thought) by which arguments could be decided mechanically. It assigned a specific number to each and every object in the world, as a prelude to an algebraic solution to all possible problems.⟶
Leibniz's Universal Calculus of Reasoning (1679)
LogicUniversal LanguageReasoningFormal SystemsSymbolic AIPhilosophyCalculus
GermanyGermany

📚 Swift's Satire of the Engine in Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift published Gulliver's Travels, which includes this description of The Engine, a machine on the island of Laputa: "a Project for improving speculative Knowledge by practical and mechanical Operations" by using this "Contrivance", "the most ignorant Person at a reasonable Charge, and with a little bodily Labour, may write Books in Philosophy, Poetry, Politicks, Law, Mathematicks, and Theology, with the least Assistance from Genius or study." The machine is a parody of Ars Magna, one of the inspirations of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz' mechanism.⟶
Swift's Satire of the Engine in Gulliver's Travels (1726)
LiteratureSatireArs MagnaPhilosophyMachine LearningKnowledge RepresentationEarly AI Criticism
United KingdomUnited Kingdom