The Vision of Artificial Intelligence: How John von Neumann Inspired the Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of computer science that aims to create machines and systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, decision making, and creativity. AI has been advancing rapidly in recent years, thanks to the availability of large amounts of data, powerful computing resources, and novel algorithms. However, the idea of creating intelligent machines is not new. It can be traced back to the pioneers of computer science, such as Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, and John von Neumann.

John von Neumann (1903–1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and polymath who made significant contributions to various fields, such as quantum mechanics, game theory, nuclear physics, and computer architecture. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. He was also one of the first to envision the possibility and implications of artificial intelligence. In particular, he was interested in the question of how machines can evolve and self-reproduce, just like biological organisms.

In the 1940s, von Neumann formalized the idea of cellular automata (CA) in order to create a theoretical model for a self-reproducing machine. CA are discrete…