rtificial Intelligence (AI) is a term coined in the 1950s but have you ever wondered what it was called before that? When did homo sapiens conceive the idea of inanimate replicants that could move and think on their own? And what terms did our ancestors use to describe visions representing artificial forms of existence and reasoning? This article traces the timeline from our earliest embodiments of artificial beings to the latest technological breakthroughs toward a new species derived from the collective human imagination.
Unlike dry historical accounts, our timeline covers the evolution of ancient representations, symbolism, mythological concepts, philosophical ideas, literary narratives, and technological prototypes exposing the fantastic roots and precursor threads leading to our modern conception of AI as an engineered replication/extension of cognition in synthetic form.
The Symbolic Seeds — Prehistory and Ancient Civilizations
From the earliest artistic expressions of humanity to foundational myths and creation stories across cultures, we see the first symbolic representations and conceptual threads that can be interpreted as relating to the eventual ideas behind artificial intelligence. While not explicitly describing AI as we understand it today, these ancient artifacts reveal an enduring human drive to understand, replicate, or transcend the limits of our intelligence through artificial means.
40,000 BCE — Cave Paintings (France, Spain, Indonesia) — The earliest known cave artworks depict human figures intermingled with animal-human hybrids (therianthropes), which represent the conceptual blending of intelligence across species. Many traditions include stories of mythological beings able to alternate between animal form and human form, or who possessed combined animal and human anatomical features and behaviour characteristics.
25,000 BCE — Venus Figurines (Europe, Eurasia) — Stylized female figurines crafted during the Palaeolithic period have been interpreted as anthropomorphic representations or embodiments of abstract concepts like fertility, creativity, or emergence. These ancient inanimate representations of human form were worshipped as powerful magical objects endowed with spiritual energy from the domain of the gods.
3100 BCE — Hieroglyphs (Ancient Egypt) — Early hieroglyphs included depictions of the human form combined with animal/bird attributes, hinting at symbolic blending of capacities. The Eye of Horus may have embodied principles of intelligence. It is often called the “all-seeing eye,” frequently representing wisdom and protection in Egyptian religion and culture.
2600 BCE — Mythical Beings (Mesopotamia) — Sumerian/Akkadian mythology featured hybrids like the bull-man Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird, displaying combined traits that could abstractly symbolize proto-AI unifying abilities of beings with powers exceeding human limitations.
1400–1200 BCE — The Nephilim (Book of Genesis) — In the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 6:1–4 describes the Nephilim as offspring resulting from union between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.” The Nephilim mythology represents one of the earliest known concepts across cultures and religions about intermingling divine/supernatural qualities with human forms, prefiguring ideas about engineering entities with superior intelligence or abilities.
1500 BCE — Artificial Beings (Ancient Greece) — Stories of Talos, Galatea, and Pandora featured artificial beings made from metal or clay by titans. Embodying humanity’s desire to create and understand intelligence, they represent the earliest imaginings of a created non-human being endowed with a form of intelligence or purpose.
400 BCE — Hun(man) and Po(animal) Souls (Ancient China) — Early Chinese philosophical theories posited humans having two souls — a spiritual intelligence (hun) and a corporal/animal soul (po). This duality possibly inspired ideas of separating intelligence from biology and sparked the imagination of non-corporeal existence.
322 BCE — Mechanical Replicants (Ancient Greece) — The ancient Greeks were believed to have built mechanical robots and artificial beings capable of basic movements. Half-human soldiers, robot servants and eagle drones — the Greeks celebrated myths starting speculation about recreating aspects of intelligence artificially.
250 BCE — Nāga Symbolism (Ancient India) — The syncretic Nāga deity in Buddhism/Hinduism embodied mathematical abilities and all-knowingness as human/cobra hybrid beings, possibly prefiguring ideas of engineered omniscience. Their secret mission was to keep the human population in check by weeding out evil and weak members of the homo sapiens.
The Mediaeval Imaginings — Artificial Life and Reason
The appetite for mystery remained insatiable in the human imagination. As antiquity gave way to the medieval era, myths, folk tales, and theological/philosophical treatises began exploring more explicit notions of replicating life, consciousness, and intelligence itself through artificial means — sowing the seeds for later AI aspirations.
780 CE — Allah’s Artificial Beings (Islamic Golden Age) — Stories emerged of crafting androids and animating life in static bodies, planting seeds of mechanical artificial mimicry of intelligence.
830 CE — “Living” Statues (Ancient India) — The Indian mathematician Mahaviracharya described a method involving mercury for animating statues, possibly contributing to Sanskrit beliefs in ensouling inanimate objects with consciousness. This is also referenced in Buddhist ritual animation of ‘opening the eyes’ of the statues in Laos, and references to the agency of objects, understood as being made up of ‘living’ entities.
950 CE — Chatton’s Artificial Artefact (Medieval Scholasticism) — English philosopher Walter Chatton outlined an early conception of engineered intelligence by investigating the difference between knowledge and cognition, which led him to theorize creating an artificial being capable of rational thought through human ingenuity.
1206 CE: Automata (Al-Jazari) — Turkish scholar and inventor Al-Jazari described and built automated machines, including mechanical water clocks and humanoid robots serving drinks, and a group of robot musicians who played their instruments on a lake in the palace to entertain guests. Medieval Islamic technology displayed an advanced understanding of mechanical imitation of life.
1270 CE — Artificial Humans (Kabbalah) — Jewish scholastic traditions explored the idea of an “artificial anthropoid” or Golem created to mimic human consciousness, made from inanimate materials animated by sacred formulas in kabbalistic theurgy. The Golem is considered one of the earliest AI prototypes, carrying throughout the ages deeply-rooted fascination and anxieties at the prospect of intelligent and sentient technology.
The Mechanization of Thought — Early Modern Era
The European Renaissance and Ages of Reason saw a flurry of philosophy, experimentation and early computational devices that formalized the possibility of reproducing aspects of human cognition and reasoning capabilities through purely mechanical/physical systems.
1637 CE — “Thinking Reed” — Rene Descartes’ famous proposition Cogito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am) sparked inquiries into what capacities for thought or reason qualify as genuine intelligence worthy of being. Blaise Pascal famously stated: “Man is but a reed, the weakest nature; yet he is a thinking reed,” sparking discussions of the nature of cognition in generations of philosophers up to 20th century existentialists.
1726 CE — “Mere Machine Thesis” — Julien Offray de La Mettrie’s work L’Homme Machine argued humans are merely complex biological machines, no different from artificially engineered mechanical beings, foreshadowing AI. La Mettrie presents a significant insight by recognizing that all movements, including the brain’s functions, are mechanical. He implies that humans operate in a machine-like manner due to the mechanistic nature of their actions and cognitive processes.
1818 CE — “Frankenstein” — Mary Shelley’s creation of an artificial humanoid creature explored the existential questions of simulating intelligence and the moral implications through its narrative. Frankenstein is an early form of AI, delving into enduring economic theories relevant to AI’s potential and uncertainties. The story acts as a lens to examine the historical and ongoing dynamics between humans and technology, offering insights into their future harmonization.
1842 CE — “Analytical Engine” — Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace proposed a design for a general-purpose computer which is considered one of the prototype concepts directly ancestral to the pursuit of artificial intelligence through machines. This concept of a comprehensive computing device was unprecedented before Babbage and Lovelace, with no prior attempts to construct such an innovative machine