TRYEngineering - AI Adventures - 17

Ancient Myths and Stories
Hephaestus' Creations: According to ancient Greek mythology,
Hephaestus, the god of invention, created a variety of artificial beings,
including Talos, Pandora, and his servants. Talos, a massive bronze robot,
guarded the island of Crete from any potential invaders. Talos had a special
liquid inside him that kept him alive, kind of like robot fuel! Hephaestus
crafted Pandora from clay, giving her a lifelike appearance. Zeus, the king of the
gods, asked Hephaestus to make her a lesson to teach humans. Hephaestus also
had servants that looked like humans but were made out of gold and were given
the knowledge of the gods to help him build and invent in his forge. He created many
other artificial beings, but these are the most famous!
The Serving Girl: In 12th century Turkey (or what would become Turkey), an
engineer named Isma'il Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari built many different machines, including
automatons, which are machines that move and act in human-like ways. One of his
most famous automatons was a mechanical serving girl that poured tea and other
drinks for people. He also made a group of four robots that could play music and
even be " programmed " to play different tunes!
The Golem: According to Jewish folklore, rituals gave life to a clay man known as
the Golem whenever words entered his mouth. He would then serve as a helper
and friend to the Jewish community, though there are some stories that say he
would go crazy and turn against his creator.
These stories, throughout history and from all across the world, show that people
everywhere have been imagining robots and artificial beings for a very long time!
IMAGE - Golem by nefasth is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein tells the story of Victor
Frankenstein, a scientist who transforms dead body parts into a living being. This story
is one of the first to explore the idea of making intelligent beings, similar to how we
think about creating robots or artificial intelligence today. It raises important questions
about whether it's right to create life and what responsibilities we have towards
our creations, while also showing that such creations can have unexpected and
sometimes adverse results. Victor's desire to learn and discover, mirrors the reasons
people today want to create AI, making Frankenstein an early story that talks about
the big questions and challenges we still think about with AI today.

TRYEngineering - AI Adventures

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