Myth, folklore, fiction, and speculation

Summary

The precursors to artificial intelligence include myths, folklore, fiction, and speculation about artificial beings and mechanical minds. Greek myths feature mechanical creations such as Hephaestus’s golden robots, the bronze giant Talos, and Pygmalion’s Galatea. In the Middle Ages, rumors circulated about mystical or alchemical methods for animating matter, including Paracelsus’s homunculus, the golem of Rabbi Judah Loew, and Roger Bacon’s brazen head. These stories reflect enduring hopes and fears about creating life-like intelligence. By the 19th century, fiction popularized “thinking machines” and artificial men through works like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Goethe’s Faust, Part Two (1832), and Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1921). Such narratives explore ethical concerns and the consequences of artificial creations, themes that closely parallel modern AI debates. Speculative essays also considered evolutionary and societal implications of machines, such as Samuel Butler’s “Darwin among the Machines” (1863).

Key Points

• 1

  Myths and medieval legends imagined craftsmen using mystical means to place mind into matter, anticipating later questions about machine intelligence.

• 2

  19th-century fiction (e.g., Frankenstein, Faust Part Two, R.U.R.) and speculative essays (e.g., “Darwin among the Machines”) explored hopes, fears, and ethics that resemble modern AI concerns.