Hidden Stories of AI, episode 2: four scientists AI stands on
Al-Khwarizmi, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Katherine Johnson: the algorithm, calculus, the photon and the human check on a computer.
What the video says
Every AI stands on the shoulders of scientists who never saw a computer like ours. Here are four. In ninth-century Baghdad, the mathematician al-Khwarizmi wrote about the Hindu number system and about al-jabr. Translated into Latin, his name became algorithm, and al-jabr became algebra.
In England, Isaac Newton developed calculus and, in 1687, published his laws of motion. Calculus is how an AI learns today: it measures the slope of its mistakes and steps downhill. In 1905, Albert Einstein explained that light comes in packets that can knock electrons out of metal. His Nobel Prize was for that work.
The same effect lets every digital camera sensor turn light into data. In 1962, before John Glenn orbited the Earth, NASA's computers worked out his path. Glenn asked for one more check: the mathematician Katherine Johnson ran the numbers by hand. Then he flew.
An algorithm, a slope, a photon, and a person checking the machine. AI needs all four. Next: the artists.
Sources
- Britannica: al-Khwarizmi
- Britannica: Isaac Newton
- Nobel Prize: Albert Einstein, facts
- BuzzFeed News (quoting NASA)
- The Root
Noir illustrations drawn in code by AI Broadsheet; no book covers, artworks, photos or film images reproduced. Music: “Journey To The Interweb” by Aemyn (CC0, Freesound); sounds: Freesound (CC0). Report a mistake