These were the first machines to be believed to have true intelligence

and consciousness. Hermes Trismegistus expressed the common belief that

with these statues, craftsman had reproduced "the true nature of the
gods", their sensus and spiritus. McCorduck makes the connection between
sacred automatons and Mosaic law (developed around the same time), which
expressly forbids the worship of robots (McCorduck 2004, pp. 69)
Humanoid automata:
Yan Shi:
Needham 1986, p. 53
Hero of Alexandria:
McCorduck 2004, p. 6
Al-Jazari:
"A Thirteenth Century Programmable Robot". Shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 25
April 2009.[dead link]
Wolfgang von Kempelen:
McCorduck 2004, p. 17
Artificial beings:
Jbir ibn Hayyn's Takwin:
O'Connor 1994
Judah Loew's Golem:
McCorduck 2004, pp. 1516
Buchanan 2005, p. 50
Paracelsus' Homunculus:
McCorduck 2004, pp. 1314
AI in early science fiction.
McCorduck 2004, pp. 1725
This insight, that digital computers can simulate any process of formal
reasoning, is known as the ChurchTuring thesis.
Formal reasoning:
Berlinski, David (2000). The Advent of the Algorithm. Harcourt Books.
ISBN 0-15-601391-6. OCLC 46890682.
AI's immediate precursors:
McCorduck 2004, pp. 51107
Crevier 1993, pp. 2732
Russell & Norvig 2003, pp. 15, 940
Moravec 1988, p. 3
Dartmouth conference:
McCorduck 2004, pp. 111136