It's interesting how artificial intelligence is dominating the headlines. Society once again is awestruck that machines, mechina, can “simulate intelligence” and act like they are alive. It comes off like magic inside a box or a ghost in a machine. As a Battlestar Galactica fan I got to thinking; has this all happened before and shall it all happen again? Was there ever an analog artificial intelligence? On this episode, I explore the closest thing I can think of to an analog AI or mechina intelligence.
As a technologist, it is easy to jump back to Ada Lovelace and the analytical engine, the concept for the beginning of computer programming. But I want to go back even further and arguably deeper. Looking at the ancient world of automata machines, devices that run off their own mechanical power, these mechina could simulate life.
These centuries-old technologies were once some of the best artisanal technology in existence. Many of the concepts that constructed those automata are closely linked to the art and science of horology.
