Oliver Selfridge was an early pioneer of synthetic intelligence, and in 1959 wrote a traditional paper outlining a system by which easy items, every finishing up a specialised perform, could possibly be linked collectively to carry out complicated, cognitive duties.
This ‘pandemonium structure‘ impressed analysis in neural networks, which in flip led to trendy machine studying about which we hear a lot as of late.
The Pandemonium mannequin is finest recognized by way of some fantastically attribute illustrations by Leanne Hinton in Lindsey & Norman’s 1977 introductory psychology textbook ‘Human Info Processing’. Right here’s one:
One web citizen described the illustrations as ‘an try to elucidate the complexities of Parallel Distributed Processing by way of the language of a kid’s nightmare.‘, however I really feel extra affection for them – the demons look pleasant to me.
Selfridge wrote 4 youngsters’s books (I don’t know who illustrated them), had three wives and helped break the story of Nationwide Safety Company spying as a part of the Echelon programme.
Though the Pandemonium mannequin is broadly recognized, and sometimes related to these illustrations, the identify of the illustrator, Leanne Hinton, is usually omitted.
I attempted to trace her down to listen to her facet of the story, and though I recognized Leanne Hinton, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, because the seemingly illustrator, she didn’t reply to my electronic mail so I couldn’t verify this was her, nor get permission to publish the cartoons on this weblog.
[if you know more, or want me to correct anything in this post, please get in touch]
Yet one more picture:
