About this episode

Donald Clark and John Helmer explore the roots of modern computing and AI through six foundational figures.

From Babbage to Turing: the roots of AI. In this first episode of Season 7, Donald Clark and John Helmer trace the roots of modern computing and AI through six foundational figures—Babbage, Lovelace, Hollerith, Bush, Newman & Flowers, and Turing. Exploring their machines, insights, and visionary ideas, they uncover surprising links between early data technologies and the digital learning landscape of today. Expect Steampunk vibes, deep dives, and a speculative look at how history shaped learning innovation. 00:01:54 - Intro 00:02:58 - Donald & John catch up - Donald's new tattoo 00:05:42 - Introducing Roots of AI: Early Computing 00:13:41 - Charles Babbage (1791-1871) 00:24:14 - Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) 00:36:31 - Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) 00:50:43 - Vannevar Bush (1890 - 1974) 01:02:50 - Maxwell Newman (1897-1984) & Thomas Flowers (1905-1988) 01:10:25 - Alan Turing (1912-1954) 01:28:20 - Summing up Great Minds on Learning comes from the Learning Hack team and is produced by John Helmer. The podcast is based on a series of blog posts written by Donald Clark, who kindly collaborates on this project. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer X: @johnhelmer Bluesky…

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