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19551950s
Symbolic AI Paradigm
The approach of representing knowledge through explicit, human-readable symbols and rules.
Why It Was Important
Often dubbed 'Good Old-Fashioned AI' (GOFAI), this paradigm dominated the field from the 1950s to the 1980s. It assumes that intelligence can be achieved by manipulating tokens (symbols) using explicit logical rules. It excelled at logic and planning but struggled immensely with perception and uncertainty.
Who Invented It
Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, John McCarthy
The founding generation of AI researchers.
Applications
- Expert Systems
- Knowledge Graphs
- Automated Reasoning