Humans are amazing, and amazing humans seem to be connected to the realm of all capable thought and ideas.
Pierre Jaquet Droz proved he is one of those connected humans when he invented the first programmable computer, and possibly the first AI robot when he built The Writer, an automaton, around 1760.
Pierre Jaquet Droz is one of the most fascinating horologists in the history of watchmaking. His creative flair matched an inventive engineering talent proved in his inventions, watches, and music boxes.
Jaquet Droz in Switzerland around 1760.
A computer processes data by running a program. Programs are the instructions for how the computer will behave when energized. A computer runs programs.
Jaquet Droz invented the computer as a bi-product to his mechanical creative genius; a function that transcends both horology & art when he built the first programmable computer.
Jaquet Droz was a horologist, a watchmaker. Watchmakers by craft are mechanics & artists always combining style and function into esthetically exciting combinations of function, art, and beauty. Time & Space are intertwined and the same, like two threads woven into interdimensional sheets; no one can consider time & space without entering into no-less than Everything.
The mechanical measurement of time is applied with stunning style and fashion, this is Jaquet Droz.
Enter The Automaton.
Automatons are machines made to behave in a certain manner using the same and similar mechanisms horologists use to create time-keeping devices. Most automatons are wound or store wound energy in a spring. When the power is applied an automaton may be designed to physically act all kinds of scenes, from a swan eating a fish, to a fortune teller with glowing eyes. Sure neat, but only when Jaquet Droz created "The Writer" was the first computer born.
Jaquet Droz created three automatons which are still in working condition now at the Neuchâtel Museum of Art and History.
1. The Draftsman
2. The Musician
3. The Writer
But an automaton is not a computer, you say? It's like a mechanical puppet, playing out its motions just as a leaf falls to the ground - because it has to.
And the defense to why AI is safe is that in the end, AI is simply running it's programming.
The Writer, A Fully Programmable Automaton built over 250 years ago.
The Writer is considered to be the first computer because The Writer, is Programmable. The Writer can be programmed what to write before the program is executed. By changing the configuration of letters in the mechanical works of The Writer, a person can program the machine to write... anything. The Writer will turn out what it was programmed to write. This is why it is said that The Writer, is the first programmable computer.
The Writer can write up to 40 characters, using a feather quill The Writer dips the feather into ink, shakes off the access ink, and writes. His eyes watching his writing move from the paper to the ink and back to the paper. The Writer is a lifelike doll that when combined with automatic movement creates a stunning presence to those lucky enough to see him. Consider especially that for most of the people who have experienced The Writer have done so in candlelight and would have never dreamed of a robot or computer. To them, The Writer would have been like magic.
The Writer still thrills us today. Housed in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Neuchâtel all three of Jaque Droz' automatons still work and are on display.