A Summary of the History of AI Before Computers

This report addresses the work done on knowledge representation and automated reasoning before the invention of computers, including the work by Leibniz, Boole, and Jevons. We show how pre-computer work in formal logic, artificial languages, and automated reasoning devices contributed to the development of AI. Topics include scholastic logic; the art of memory; Lull’s inference mechanisms; Leibniz’ design of inferential calculi, knowledge representation methods, and calculating devices; Wilkins’ design of a logicallystructured language; Boole’s investigations of the “laws of thought”; Jevons’ construction of the “logical abacus” and “logical piano.” * This report an extended, unedited draft of an article for the Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, 2nd Ed., ed. by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, Idea Group.