Siri and Google Now have gained a lot of publicity for bringing artificial intelligence into the hands of the general population, but they simply the latest in an extraordinary effort that’s spanned 250 years. The search to figure out how to make a machine that can really understand and interact the way a person does is a pretty interesting story that involves magicians, French dictators, math geniuses, and lots and lots of chess.
Boxes and Arrows offers a brief history on how Siri wound up in your pocket.
