{"id":14376,"date":"2024-07-28T06:24:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T13:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/?p=14376"},"modified":"2024-07-28T06:24:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T13:24:11","slug":"edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence","title":{"rendered":"Edward Fredkin &#8211; a scientist who studied artificial intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ed Fredkin is a pilot, programmer, engineer, hardware designer and entrepreneur, whose work in academic circles and beyond has influenced major developments in computer science and the basics of theoretical physics. Read more at <a href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/uk\">i-los-angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a157bae54212\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a157bae54212\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#Dropped_out_of_university_during_his_second_year\" >Dropped out of university during his second year&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#Start_of_a_scientific_career\" >Start of a scientific career<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#He_became_a_millionaire_at_the_age_of_34\" >He became a millionaire at the age of 34<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#Fredkin_was_involved_in_a_Pentagon_program\" >Fredkin was involved in a Pentagon program<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#The_theory_of_the_infinity_of_nature\" >The theory of the infinity of nature<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence\/#The_ideal_computing_model\" >The ideal computing model<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dropped_out_of_university_during_his_second_year\"><\/span>Dropped out of university during his second year&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ed Fredkin was born in Los Angeles in 1934 to immigrant parents. He had a difficult childhood. His mother passed away from cancer when he was eleven, and his father was unsupportive and indifferent to his achievements. Despite this, Fredkin was a confident child. Receiving the highest grade in California for the exam in the ninth grade, he had a strong desire to become a physicist. The obvious choice was the California Institute of Technology, where some of his peers from the smallest high school in Los Angeles entered. Caltech was indeed the only college to which Fredkin applied. He managed to graduate from high school a semester early to attend college, working full-time as a clerk and part-time at a movie theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/04\/17103101\/ypg3ffqeyctpwiwbzigvlpyqdclz6tiabpgsouoqrstpfnvsfkvkbjsw9avel0zzaa2fxftfrhezfezfzg4ghntp8jwih6sp7elgnqksx5_yhnvf1knl6ytto59inob1jpaxeycurekgmorrg8y-hti.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>His first year of study went smoothly. By the end of the first quarter of his second year, Fredkin got a job in construction to support himself financially, which led him to skip classes. He passed the final exam in physics with the highest grade in his second year. However, he failed in other subjects due to poor attendance, missed homework and absence of laboratory reports. More information about the peculiarities of obtaining a higher education in Los Angeles <a href=\"https:\/\/losangeles1.one\/uk\/eternal\/yaki-osoblyvosti-zdobuvannya-vyshhoyi-osvity-u-los-andzhelesi-2464?fbclid=IwAR15h6au2NC2ud-VyRfbaHulZNUaJbrIR-KvDycfhx0KdQWKgJzhDAJgoek_aem_AbGUbDqWJd8w6LbDP5o9esng-VB6w0YGbn4eg6v7eDon6YVpyhN2GJnBaeJWUdjWsdc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point, he decided to leave the Institute of Technology, at least for a while, to join the Air Force as an aviation cadet. The Korean War was coming to an end, but people were still being mobilized. Fredkin completed flight training in the Air Force in the spring of 1955 with flying colors. He then served for three years as a jet fighter pilot and officer. He declined to sign an additional one-year commitment to attend gunnery school and was assigned as an interception controller at an airbase in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Start_of_a_scientific_career\"><\/span>Start of a scientific career<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Real luck brought him and 35 other aviators to the Lincoln Laboratories at the Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts, where SAGE (Computerized Integrated Air Defense System) was being developed. The Eglin group was supposed to be involved in testing SAGE, but upon arrival, the pilots were told that the software was not ready yet and they needed one more year before the system could be tested. The Air Force announced that this year they would be familiarized with the new computer technology. It was here that Ed Fredkin began his career as a world-class hardware developer and programmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/04\/17103100\/viclbvitvwztx2jo111ue3cmubjkzw0oge09zkk379kgvopmspghnlqpdclvv6wwfzlscm_gkbyb-exjigc4xuvowytwv0-vdv8icjjyzjt6jk4utpmzkt16skmo-ava44c-skwdeogkbp3bzaso20.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At the beginning of the SAGE project, there were only about five hundred programmers around the world. The computer itself was a recent invention, and programming languages such as Fortran had not yet appeared. Within a week, all of his colleagues left the classes that were specially designed for new SAGE employees. It wasn&#8217;t long before Fredkin established himself as the fastest and most efficient programmer at Lincoln Labs. He earned this reputation by working with the newest, most powerful computer in the world, the IBM XD-1. In an interview with Richard Wright, he described this period as one in which his passion for physics and the discovery of the computer led him to digital physics, which implies that nature is computational at its core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1958, Fredkin left the Air Force and was hired by the consulting firm Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN). It is known for its work in artificial intelligence and computer networks. At that time, Fredkin was the only person in the company with computer knowledge and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"He_became_a_millionaire_at_the_age_of_34\"><\/span>He became a millionaire at the age of 34<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fredkin left BBN in 1962 and founded the private IT company International Information Incorporated. His company went public six years later, and at the age of thirty-four, Fredkin suddenly became a millionaire. Thanks to his abilities and lucky coincidence to be in the right place at the right time, he became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of the institute&#8217;s most important computer laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the company&#8217;s funds, Fredkin bought a Caribbean island in the British Virgin Islands, where he flew on his Cessna 206 seaplane. There was a lack of drinking water on the island, so Professor Fredkin developed reverse osmosis technology to desalinate seawater, which he turned into another business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, he sold the property to British billionaire Richard Branson for $25 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fredkin_was_involved_in_a_Pentagon_program\"><\/span>Fredkin was involved in a Pentagon program<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to continue his education in the field of computer science, the Air Force sent a scientist to the Lincoln Laboratory, a Pentagon-funded hotbed of technological innovation. From that moment, he started spending a lot of time at the laboratory, where in the 1960s, he helped develop early versions of the multiple-access computers as part of the program. They also studied automated reasoning and conducted early research on artificial intelligence. Professor Fredkin was chosen to lead the project in 1971 and shortly thereafter became a full-time lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/04\/17103058\/mmdzrtj8adjlqcihnhvt08wxek0s24wecjqbjemczv9ivg-tndt43fmhcqjkgjkmwupif8ozbzojjzijsyxodicrjgwjzb63cl8l1x-bmvv0tbiufcewo-rr5epe8eqttvtpdvzomk_k1o71huvnng4.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_theory_of_the_infinity_of_nature\"><\/span>The theory of the infinity of nature<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fredkin interpreted the philosophy of mathematics, known as finitism, into physics, according to which the physical world is considered a &#8220;large but finite system, limited in the amount of information in any volume of space and time.&#8221; From this perspective, space and time are only finitely extensive and divisible. All physical quantities are discrete, and all physical processes are only finitely complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Marvin Minsky, Fredkin had been thinking about this hypothesis as early as 1961. During his first meeting with Feynman, they discussed the possibility of miniaturizing automata. This question interested Feynman for quite some time. According to Fredkin, it was here that he first suggested that physical laws should be regarded as calculations. Therefore, the physical world must ultimately be finite and discrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the initial concept of computation was generalized by models that can process real numbers and functions of continuous time, the question remains whether such mathematical intricacies can be applied to the real physical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/04\/17103058\/ppbcvo2dgy6oiwlanccfua7svqp8rf8bthpzq8vzzsjrcbgt8zpzwmq3ynljj2rkijvlykmbp5jms5pvvbmmat5upokwioztlisbwfij-bdw4_0xaajcjdeqmrztgguhtudfvo5i4ims3_9nqzuscm.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_ideal_computing_model\"><\/span>The ideal computing model<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps Fredkin&#8217;s most notable contribution to the physics of information is the concept of reversible computing. From 1961, when Rolf Landauer published his paper on the inevitable energy dissipation accompanying irreversible logical operations, most physicists believed that computations must necessarily be irreversible. Fredkin found a way to calculate without information loss. The motivation behind this discovery was the conviction that while thermodynamics may describe macroscopic physical systems, it is not a fundamental theory. Therefore, on a microscopic scale, computations should not be irreversible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To demonstrate his idea, Fredkin developed an ideal computing model that has inspired many generations of information scientists. It is called a computer with a billiard ball. The model consists of billiard balls ricocheting in a &#8220;maze&#8221; of mirrors. They bounce off the mirrors at 45-degree angles, periodically colliding with other moving balls at 90-degree angles, and occasionally exit through door-like openings. Such a machine could qualify as a universal computer. It could perform all the functions of conventional computers. However, unlike other computers, it would be ideally reversible. To restore its history, all that would be required is to stop and restart it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fredkin did not hurry to publish his work, and it took him several years to properly formulate his knowledge. So now, when searching for literature on reversible computing, other names besides Fredkin come up: Charlie Bennett, Tommaso Toffoli and Norman Margolus. The latter two worked with Fredkin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Under his guidance, they developed reversible computing. Benett actually published a paper on the possibility of reversible computing as early as 1973 independently of Fredkin. But even he acknowledges that Fredkin&#8217;s billiard ball computer is in some aspects a more elegant solution to the problem than his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Fredkin is a pilot, programmer, engineer, hardware designer and entrepreneur, whose work in academic circles and beyond has influenced major developments in computer science and the basics of theoretical physics. Read more at i-los-angeles. Dropped out of university during his second year&nbsp; Ed Fredkin was born in Los Angeles in 1934 to immigrant parents. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":13453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4819],"tags":[7035,7037,7041,7034,7042,7043,7039,7044,7040,7038,7036],"motype":[4825],"moformat":[83],"moimportance":[32,35],"class_list":{"0":"post-14376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-innovator","8":"tag-although-the-initial-concept-of-computation-was-generalized-by-models-that-can-process-real-numbers-and-functions-of-continuous-time","9":"tag-dropped-out-of-university-during-his-second-year","10":"tag-ed-fredkin-is-a-pilot","11":"tag-edward-fredkin-a-scientist-who-studied-artificial-intelligence","12":"tag-engineer","13":"tag-hardware-designer-and-entrepreneur","14":"tag-he-had-a-strong-desire-to-become-a-physicist","15":"tag-he-passed-the-final-exam-in-physics-with-the-highest-grade-in-his-second-year","16":"tag-programmer","17":"tag-receiving-the-highest-grade-in-california-for-the-exam-in-the-ninth-grade","18":"tag-the-question-remains-whether-such-mathematical-intricacies-can-be-applied-to-the-real-physical-world","19":"motype-eternal","20":"moformat-longread-short","21":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","22":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14377,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14376\/revisions\/14377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14376"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=14376"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=14376"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=14376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}