“The Quest for Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Achievements”, written by Nils J. Nilsson is free to download. The entire 707 page book is available in pdf format.
Book Description
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field within computer science that is attempting to build enhanced intelligence into computer systems. This book traces the history of the subject, from the early dreams of eighteenth-century (and earlier) pioneers to the more successful work of today’s AI engineers. AI is becoming more and more a part of everyone’s life.
The technology is already embedded in face-recognizing cameras, speech-recognition software, Internet search engines, and health-care robots, among other applications. The book’s many diagrams and easy-to-understand descriptions of AI programs will help the casual reader gain an understanding of how these and other AI systems actually work. Its thorough (but unobtrusive) end-of-chapter notes containing citations to important source materials will be of great use to AI scholars and researchers. This book promises to be the definitive history of a field that has captivated the imaginations of scientists, philosophers, and writers for centuries.
Table of Contents
- Beginnings
- Early Explorations: 1950s and 1960s
- Efflorescence: Mid-1960s to Mid-1970s
- Applications and Specializations: 1970s to Early 1980s
- “New-Generation” Projects
- Entr’acte
- The Growing Armamentarium: From the 1980s Onward
- Modern AI: Today and Tomorrow