Herbert A. Simon
In plain wordsAn American scientist of decision-making who, with Allen Newell, wrote some of the first AI programs and argued that minds and computers both think by manipulating symbols.
American social scientist and AI pioneer, at Carnegie Mellon University (then the Carnegie Institute of Technology) from 1949. In economics and management he argued that decision-makers, limited in information, time and mental capacity, do not optimize but settle for options that are good enough, the ideas of bounded rationality and 'satisficing' that he introduced. With Allen NewellAllen Newell, prop. n.: An American computer scientist who, with Herbert Simon, wrote early AI programs that solved problems the way people do, and who sought a single theory of how the mind works. and the programmer Cliff Shaw he created the Logic TheoristLogic Theorist, prop. n.: A 1956 computer program that proved theorems from a classic logic textbook by searching cleverly rather than trying every possibility. Many historians count it as the first AI program. (1956), which proved theorems from Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica, and the General Problem SolverGeneral Problem Solver, prop. n.: A 1950s program meant to solve any well-defined puzzle by repeatedly comparing where it was with where it wanted to be and choosing steps that closed the gap. (1957), which used means–ends analysis. With Newell he framed intelligence as search guided by heuristicsheuristic, n.: A rule of thumb: a quick, usually good-enough way to make a decision or to estimate how close you are to a goal, without any guarantee of finding the best answer., stated the physical symbol system hypothesisphysical symbol system hypothesis, n.: The 1976 claim by two AI pioneers that a machine which stores and rearranges symbols according to rules has everything needed for general intelligence, and that anything generally intelligent must be such a machine. (1976), and helped found cognitive sciencecognitive science, n.: The scientific study of how minds work — how we reason, use language, remember and see — combining psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and artificial intelligence. by modeling human thought as information processing. He shared the 1975 Turing AwardTuring Award, prop. n.: Nicknamed the 'Nobel Prize of computing', the top honor in computer science, awarded each year since 1966 by the Association for Computing Machinery. Several AI pioneers have received it. with Newell and received the 1978 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Some of his forecasts, such as a computer chess champion within ten years (made in 1957), proved premature.
Related
- Allen NewellAllen Newell, prop. n.: An American computer scientist who, with Herbert Simon, wrote early AI programs that solved problems the way people do, and who sought a single theory of how the mind works.
- Logic TheoristLogic Theorist, prop. n.: A 1956 computer program that proved theorems from a classic logic textbook by searching cleverly rather than trying every possibility. Many historians count it as the first AI program.
- General Problem SolverGeneral Problem Solver, prop. n.: A 1950s program meant to solve any well-defined puzzle by repeatedly comparing where it was with where it wanted to be and choosing steps that closed the gap.
- physical symbol system hypothesisphysical symbol system hypothesis, n.: The 1976 claim by two AI pioneers that a machine which stores and rearranges symbols according to rules has everything needed for general intelligence, and that anything generally intelligent must be such a machine.
- heuristicheuristic, n.: A rule of thumb: a quick, usually good-enough way to make a decision or to estimate how close you are to a goal, without any guarantee of finding the best answer.
- cognitive sciencecognitive science, n.: The scientific study of how minds work — how we reason, use language, remember and see — combining psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and artificial intelligence.
Sources
- Newell, A. & Simon, H. A. (1976). Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and Search. Communications of the ACM 19(3): 113–126.
- Simon, H. A. (1969). The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press.
Mentioned in
Allen NewellAllen Newell, prop. n.: An American computer scientist who, with Herbert Simon, wrote early AI programs that solved problems the way people do, and who sought a single theory of how the mind works., bounded rationalitybounded rationality, n.: The idea that real decision-makers, whether people or machines, cannot consider every option or compute the perfect choice, so they make reasonable decisions within limits of time, information and thinking power., Dartmouth workshopDartmouth workshop, prop. n.: A summer meeting of scientists at Dartmouth College in 1956, planned in a 1955 funding proposal that first used the phrase 'artificial intelligence'. Most histories treat it as the moment AI became a research field of its own., Edward FeigenbaumEdward Feigenbaum, prop. n.: An American computer scientist who pioneered expert systems, programs that capture specialists' knowledge as rules to solve problems in fields such as chemistry and medicine., General Problem SolverGeneral Problem Solver, prop. n.: A 1950s program meant to solve any well-defined puzzle by repeatedly comparing where it was with where it wanted to be and choosing steps that closed the gap., Logic TheoristLogic Theorist, prop. n.: A 1956 computer program that proved theorems from a classic logic textbook by searching cleverly rather than trying every possibility. Many historians count it as the first AI program., physical symbol system hypothesisphysical symbol system hypothesis, n.: The 1976 claim by two AI pioneers that a machine which stores and rearranges symbols according to rules has everything needed for general intelligence, and that anything generally intelligent must be such a machine., satisficingsatisficing, n.: Choosing the first option that is good enough instead of searching for the very best one — a sensible strategy when time, information or brainpower are limited., Turing AwardTuring Award, prop. n.: Nicknamed the 'Nobel Prize of computing', the top honor in computer science, awarded each year since 1966 by the Association for Computing Machinery. Several AI pioneers have received it., RAND CorporationRAND Corporation, prop. n.: An American research organization, long funded mainly by the US government, where early AI programs were written and which now advises governments on AI and security.