III.
The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Robotics, Symbolic Systems, and Neural
Networks
In his omnibus historical account of AI research, Nilsson (2010) defines AI as “that
activity devoted to making machines intelligent, and intelligence is that quality that enables an
entity to function appropriately and with foresight in its environment.” His account details the
contributions of multiple fields to achievements in AI, including but not limited to biology,
linguistics, psychology and cognitive sciences, neuroscience, mathematics, philosophy and logic,
engineering and computer science. And, of course, regardless of their particular approach,
artificial intelligence research has been united by from the beginning by its engagement with
Turing (1950), and his discussion of the possibility of mechanizing intelligence.