What if the AI revolution started centuries ago with a chess-playing automaton? In this episode of A Beginner’s Guide to AI, we journey back to the 18th century to uncover the captivating tale of the Mechanical Turk, a machine that mesmerized audiences by playing chess—and winning. But beneath its gears and levers lay a hidden truth that continues to resonate in today’s AI-driven world.

Join me, Professor GePhardT, as we unravel the Turk’s historical deception and connect it to the ethical, transparent, and human-driven challenges of artificial intelligence today.

From historical hoaxes to modern algorithms, this episode explores how perception, innovation, and the human touch shape our understanding of intelligent machines.

Tune in to get my thoughts, don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter!

Want to get in contact? Write me an email: podcast@argo.berlin

This podcast was generated with the help of ChatGPT, Mistral, and Claude 3. We do fact-check with human eyes, but there still might be hallucinations in the output. And, by the way, it's read by an AI voice.

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads.

The Chessboard Hoax: How a 1770 Machine Inspired Modern AI Conversations 15:11 Share

A Beginner's Guide to AI

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The Chessboard Hoax: How a 1770 Machine Inspired Modern AI Conversations