This paper details the reconstruction and execution of the Logic Theorist (LT), considered the first artificial intelligence program, originally created in 1955-1956. The authors built a new IPL-V interpreter in Common Lisp and faithfully reanimated LT from code transcribed from a 1963 RAND technical report. The reanimated LT successfully proved 16 of 23 theorems from Principia Mathematica, consistent with the original system's behavior. This work demonstrates "executable archaeology" as a method for understanding early AI systems, highlighting the challenges and insights gained from reconstructing and running historical code.
- Raph Levien, who is an expert in Rust and rendering on GPUs, who founded Advogato, and who designed Inconsolata, a great monospace font. His talk's title is *I Want a Good Parallel Language*.
- Jeff Shrager will give a talk on reviving early AI programs like ELIZA and IPL-V. His talk's title is *RetroAI: Reanimating the Earliest AIs in the Lost Languages that Predated Lisp*.
- Jeff Shrager will give a talk on reviving early AI programs like ELIZA and IPL-V. His talk's title is *RetroAI: Reanimating the Earliest AIs in the Lost Languages that Predated Lisp*.
PDF of the second edition of Information Processing Language V Manual (1964).
This GitHub repository contains a re-implementation of the IPL-V programming language and the Logic Theorist (LT) program. It includes the original code transcribed into a TSV format and converted to Lisp, along with documentation and debugging tools.
The Wikipedia article details the Logic Theorist, created in 1956 by Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, and Cliff Shaw. Widely considered the first AI program, it successfully proved 38 of the first 52 theorems in Principia Mathematica, even discovering more elegant proofs than those originally crafted by Russell and Whitehead.
Jeff Shrager has reanimated LT in IPL-V with a new implementation.
The Virtual Keypunch is a web-based service that allows users to create and download personal punch cards in various formats. It mimics the classic IBM 029 keypunch cards, supporting character sets for Standard, FORTRAN, COBOL, DATA, SYMBOLIC, and PYTHON cards. The service includes features like multiple punching, binary input modes, and the ability to generate links with embedded text.
There are references to the IBM 7090/7094 version under IBSYS online.
In this 7094 emulator package on Github: https://github.com/Bertoid1311/B7094 (in the zipped distribution files unfortunately) I think there is a copy that is runnable? see: Docs/Bamberger-MAMOS_docs/BAMBSYSLB1_patch_for_IPLV.txt
It describes patching the available binary to make it work, with the caveat that it's unclear if the interpreter is correct/intact (but it does run the demo programs).
On the provenance of the tape:https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/umes-resurrected-sort-of/3739
In this 7094 emulator package on Github: https://github.com/Bertoid1311/B7094 (in the zipped distribution files unfortunately) I think there is a copy that is runnable? see: Docs/Bamberger-MAMOS_docs/BAMBSYSLB1_patch_for_IPLV.txt
It describes patching the available binary to make it work, with the caveat that it's unclear if the interpreter is correct/intact (but it does run the demo programs).
On the provenance of the tape:https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/umes-resurrected-sort-of/3739
https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Structures__Readings_and_Examples/contents.html
Proc. WJCC, pp. 119-128, 1958.
Chapter 30
A command structure for complex information processing1
J. C. Shaw / A. Newell / H. A. Simon / T. O. Ellis
The general-purpose digital computer, by virtue of its large capacity and general-purpose nature, has opened the possibility of research into the nature of complex mechanisms per se. The challenge is obvious: humans carry out information processing of a complexity that is truly baffling. Given the urge to understand either how humans do it, or alternatively, what kinds of mechanisms might accomplish the same tasks, the computer is turned to as a basic research tool. The varieties of complex information processing will be understood when they can be synthesized: when mechanisms can be created that perform the same processes.
Proc. WJCC, pp. 119-128, 1958.
Chapter 30
A command structure for complex information processing1
J. C. Shaw / A. Newell / H. A. Simon / T. O. Ellis
The general-purpose digital computer, by virtue of its large capacity and general-purpose nature, has opened the possibility of research into the nature of complex mechanisms per se. The challenge is obvious: humans carry out information processing of a complexity that is truly baffling. Given the urge to understand either how humans do it, or alternatively, what kinds of mechanisms might accomplish the same tasks, the computer is turned to as a basic research tool. The varieties of complex information processing will be understood when they can be synthesized: when mechanisms can be created that perform the same processes.
