information:classification
Artificial Intelligence

In 1950, Shannon, designed, and built with the help of his wife, a learning machine named Theseus. It consisted of a maze on a surface, through which a mechanical mouse could move through. Below the surface were sensors that followed the path of a mechanical mouse through the maze. After much trial and error, this device would learn the shortest path through the maze, and direct the mechanical mouse through the maze. The pattern of the maze could be changed at will.

Mazin Gilbert stated that Theseus "inspired the whole field of AI. This random trial and error is the foundation of artificial intelligence."

Shannon wrote multiple influential papers on artificial intelligence, such as his 1950 paper titled "Programming a Computer for Playing Chess", and his 1953 paper titled "Computers and Automata".

Shannon co-organized and participated in the Dartmouth workshop of 1956, alongside John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky and Nathaniel Rochester, and which is considered the founding event of the field of artificial intelligence.