Accelerating Future

First Reference to RSI in Fiction? Tuesday, Jul 31 2007

AI Michael Anissimov 6:43 am

What follows is possibly the first reference to AI/robotic recursive self-improvement in fiction, from all the way back in 1935. Quote from Technovelgy:

In this story of a future Earth, humanity had all of its needs met by a device - an intelligent machine.

“You have forgotten your history, and you have forgotten the history of the Machine, humans…”

“On the planet Dwranl, of the star you know as Sirius, a great race lived, and they were not too unlike you humans. …they attained their goal of the machine that could think. And because it could think, they made several and put them to work, largely on scientific problems, and one of the obvious problems was how to make a better machine which could think.

The machines had logic, and they could think constantly, and because of their construction never forgot anything they thought it well to remember. So the machine which had been set the task of making a better machine advanced slowly, and as it improved itself, it advanced more and more rapidly. The Machine which came to Earth is that machine.”

From The Machine, by John W. Campbell.
Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1935.

Looks like the Singularity idea is not so new after all.

10 Responses to “First Reference to RSI in Fiction?”

Brian Wang Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 9:11 am

In the first three books Skylark series which was published in serial form 1928, 1930 and 1935, the heroes use a “learning machine” which transfer knowledge between brains (chapter 14 first book). Which is already used to gain knowledge and mastery of some technology in the first book (they build a better spaceship).
then in chapter 5 and later chapters of the second and in later chapters they use improved versions of the direct mental transfer to gain knowledge from several more advanced aliens.

So it is recursive / human / alien intelligence/technology improvement.

By the third book they make a planet size ship with a world sized artificial computer mind / intelligence booster.

Transcribed from project gutenberg.

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20869

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20869/20869-h/20869-h.htm#CHAPTER_XIV

The Skylark of Space (written 1915–1920 with Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby, Amazing Stories Aug–Oct 1928, Buffalo Book Co. 1946. Paperback edition, heavily revised and without the co-author credit, Pyramid Books 1958)

Skylark Three (Amazing Stories Aug–Oct 1930, Fantasy Press 1948)
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/21051

Skylark of Valeron (Astounding Stories Aug 1934–Feb 1935, Fantasy Press 1949)

Brian Wang Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 9:19 am

btw: the elapsed book time in the Skylark series is going from the mid-20th century (whenever the stories were published) and then advancing only a few years. So from vacuum tubes to artificial worldwinds in a few years.

Tom McCabe Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 10:55 am

This is the Singularitarian version of the Babbage difference engine- an interesting concept that occurred early on but was never implemented or fully understood.

The Singularity Institute Blog : Blog Archive : SIAI: Why We Exist and Our Short-Term Research Program Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 4:05 pm

[…] is not an original idea, it’s been around since the 1930’s at least, in various forms. However, we are approaching the point at which it can actually happen. The […]

Bruce Klein’s Novamente Weblog » Singularity concept = 72yrs old (or older?) Says:
August 1st, 2007 at 5:27 am

[…] Why We Exist post, I came across a link to Michael Anissimov’s research where he finds a 1935 novel passage which makes possible first reference to AI/robotic recursive self-improvement in fiction - quoted […]