a Glimpse of Wonder entry™

Artificial Intelligence—two words that seem to belong to our time, our technology, and our tangled age of cloud computing and digital voices. But what is AI, really? And how far back does it go?

A Strict Definition

By definition, artificial intelligence refers to a system—created by humans—that can perform tasks requiring intelligence, such as decision-making, problem-solving, or learning. The system must act on inputs from its environment and produce a purposeful output without direct human guidance. Not every machine fits.

So a basic thermostat—an old metal coil that expands or contracts to turn heat on or off—is not AI. It’s clever, but it’s not intelligent. It doesn’t learn, adapt, or infer. It simply reacts.

But as systems were iterated upon, they began to mimic learning. A Nest thermostat, for example, observes your behavior over time. It adjusts schedules, predicts needs, and even incorporates weather forecasts. It no longer just reacts—it adapts. That’s where modern definitions stretch far enough to call it AI. The logic isn’t just reactive—it’s dynamic.

A Question of Origins

So when was the first AI invented?

A. 539 B.C.E.  B. 250 B.C.E.  C. 1956 C.E.  D. 2011 C.E.

Each of these years has significance, and two of them mark major moments in AI history.

Let’s walk backward:

2011 C.E. — IBM’s Watson defeats human champions on Jeopardy!. This wasn't just trivia. Watson parsed natural human language, interpreted puns, filtered ambiguity, and accessed a vast dataset of human knowledge—all in real time. It didn’t just regurgitate facts; it selected and weighed answers based on context. That event marked a public turning point, proving that AI could compete in domains traditionally considered too nuanced for machines.

1956 C.E. — The Dartmouth Conference. This was the moment the term "Artificial Intelligence" was coined. A group of mathematicians and computer scientists, including John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, proposed that “every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.” That single conference sparked decades of research and laid the intellectual foundation for the field of AI as we now understand it.

Both major strides, but neither the first.

539 B.C.E. — It looks promising, doesn’t it? A moment of historical upheaval. But while significant in its own right, it has nothing to do with automation, logic, or intelligence systems. Just a decoy.

Which brings us to 250 B.C.E..

Enter Ctesibius of Alexandria. This ancient Greek engineer created a self-regulating water clock—called a clepsydra—with a float valve, gears, and feedback systems. It didn’t just keep time. It monitored water levels, adjusted pressure, and regulated flow based on input. No human hand needed to intervene. It processed, responded, and executed. And it did so by design.

This wasn’t just automation. It was the earliest known example of a human-made system that used input to guide outputin a controlled, feedback-driven loop. That fits every requirement for AI—minus the electricity. It wasn’t digital, but it was intelligent.

Are We AI?

With all this talk of systems, intelligence, and inputs, one might wonder: Are humans just a form of AI?

We adapt. We learn. We process environmental cues and make complex decisions.

But no—Jehovah didn’t create artificial intelligence. He created true intelligence.

Humans don’t operate based on pre-set logic loops. We reflect, we grow, we choose. Our intelligence is not artificial, but original. Divine. We were made in Jehovah’s image, capable of thought, creativity, morality, and worship (Genesis 1:27).

All the AI in the world is just humanity’s attempt to imitate what Jehovah designed into us from the beginning.

And the more we understand that, the more we glimpse—not just intelligence—but purpose.