Perceptrons

Perceptrons - the first systematic study of parallelism in computation - marked a historic turn in artificial intelligence, returning to the idea that intelligence might emerge from the activity of networks of neuron-like entities. Minsky and Papert provided mathematical analysis that showed the limitations of a class of computing machines that could be considered as models of the brain. Minsky and Papert added a new chapter in 1987 in which they discuss the state of parallel computers, and note a central theoretical challenge: reaching a deeper understanding of how objects or agents with individuality can emerge in a network. Progress in this area would link connectionism with what the authors have called society theories of mind.