Arthur Samuel
Encyclopedia
Arthur Lee Samuel was an American pioneer in the field of computer gaming and artificial intelligence. The Samuel Checkers-playing Program appears to be the world's first self-learning program, and as such a very early demonstration of the fundamental concept of artificial intelligence
(AI).
and graduated from College of Emporia
in Kansas in 1923.
He received a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 1926, and taught for two years as instructor. In 1928, he joined Bell Laboratories, where he worked mostly on vacuum tube
s, including improvements of Radar
during World War II
. He developed a gas-discharge transmit-receive switch (TR tube) that allowed a single antenna to be used for both transmitting and receiving.
After the war he moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he initiated the ILLIAC
project, but left before its first computer was complete.
Samuel went to IBM
in Poughkeepsie, New York
in 1949, where he would conceive and carry out his most successful work. He is credited with one of the first software hash table
s, and influencing early research in using transistor
s for computers at IBM.
At IBM he made the first checkers
program on IBM's first commercial computer, the IBM 701
. The program was a sensational demonstration of the advances in both hardware and skilled programming and caused IBM's stock to increase 15 points overnight. His pioneering non-numerical programming helped shaped the instruction set of processors, as he was one of the first to work with computers on projects other than computation.
He was known for writing articles that made complex subjects easy to understand. He was chosen to write an introduction to one of the earlies journals devoted to computing in 1953.
In 1966, Samuel retired from IBM and became a professor at Stanford, where he worked the remainder of his life. He worked with Donald Knuth
on the TeX
project, including writing some of the documentation. He continued to write software past his 80th birthday.
He was given the Computer Pioneer Award by the IEEE Computer Society in 1987.
He died of complications from Parkinson's disease
on July 29, 1990.
.
Instead of searching each path until it came to the game’s conclusion, Samuel developed a scoring function based on the position of the board at any given time. This function tried to measure the chance of winning for each side at the given position. It took into account such things as the number of pieces on each side, the number of kings, and the proximity of pieces to being “kinged”. The program chose its move based on a minimax
strategy, meaning it made the move that optimized the value of this function, assuming that the opponent was trying to optimize the value of the same function from its point of view.
Samuel also designed various mechanisms by which his program could become better. In what he called rote learning
, the program remembered every position it had already seen, along with the terminal value of the reward function. This technique effectively extended the search depth at each of these positions. Samuel's later programs reevaluated the reward function based on input professional games. He also had it play thousands of games against itself as another way of learning. With all of this work, Samuel’s program reached a respectable amateur status, and was the first to play any board game at this high of level. He continued to work on checkers until the mid-1970s, at which point his program achieved sufficient skill to challenge a respectable amateur.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(AI).
Biography
Samuel was born in 1901 in Emporia, KansasEmporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
and graduated from College of Emporia
College of Emporia
The College of Emporia was established in 1882 in Emporia, Kansas, and was associated with the Presbyterian church. The college officially closed in 1974. The college campus was purchased by The Way International for $694,000 and was operated as the Way College of Emporia from 1975 until 1989...
in Kansas in 1923.
He received a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 1926, and taught for two years as instructor. In 1928, he joined Bell Laboratories, where he worked mostly on vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s, including improvements of Radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He developed a gas-discharge transmit-receive switch (TR tube) that allowed a single antenna to be used for both transmitting and receiving.
After the war he moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he initiated the ILLIAC
ILLIAC
ILLIAC was a series of supercomputers built at a variety of locations, some at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In all, five computers were built in this series between 1951 and 1974...
project, but left before its first computer was complete.
Samuel went to IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie (town), New York
Poughkeepsie is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 42,777 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the native term, "Uppu-qui-ipis-in," which means "reed-covered hut by the water."...
in 1949, where he would conceive and carry out his most successful work. He is credited with one of the first software hash table
Hash table
In computer science, a hash table or hash map is a data structure that uses a hash function to map identifying values, known as keys , to their associated values . Thus, a hash table implements an associative array...
s, and influencing early research in using transistor
Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
s for computers at IBM.
At IBM he made the first checkers
Draughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
program on IBM's first commercial computer, the IBM 701
IBM 701
The IBM 701, known as the Defense Calculator while in development, was announced to the public on April 29, 1952, and was IBM’s first commercial scientific computer...
. The program was a sensational demonstration of the advances in both hardware and skilled programming and caused IBM's stock to increase 15 points overnight. His pioneering non-numerical programming helped shaped the instruction set of processors, as he was one of the first to work with computers on projects other than computation.
He was known for writing articles that made complex subjects easy to understand. He was chosen to write an introduction to one of the earlies journals devoted to computing in 1953.
In 1966, Samuel retired from IBM and became a professor at Stanford, where he worked the remainder of his life. He worked with Donald Knuth
Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth is a computer scientist and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.He is the author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms...
on the TeX
TeX
TeX is a typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth and released in 1978. Within the typesetting system, its name is formatted as ....
project, including writing some of the documentation. He continued to write software past his 80th birthday.
He was given the Computer Pioneer Award by the IEEE Computer Society in 1987.
He died of complications from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
on July 29, 1990.
Computer checkers (draughts) development
Samuel is most known within the AI community for his groundbreaking work in computer checkers. He thought that teaching computers to play games was very fruitful for developing tactics appropriate to general problems, and he chose checkers because it is relatively simple, but has a depth of strategy. The main driver of the machine was a search tree of the board positions reachable from the current state. Since he had only a very limited amount of available computer memory, Samuel implemented what is now called alpha-beta pruningAlpha-beta pruning
Alpha-beta pruning is a search algorithm which seeks to decrease the number of nodes that are evaluated by the minimax algorithm in its search tree. It is an adversarial search algorithm used commonly for machine playing of two-player games...
.
Instead of searching each path until it came to the game’s conclusion, Samuel developed a scoring function based on the position of the board at any given time. This function tried to measure the chance of winning for each side at the given position. It took into account such things as the number of pieces on each side, the number of kings, and the proximity of pieces to being “kinged”. The program chose its move based on a minimax
Minimax
Minimax is a decision rule used in decision theory, game theory, statistics and philosophy for minimizing the possible loss for a worst case scenario. Alternatively, it can be thought of as maximizing the minimum gain...
strategy, meaning it made the move that optimized the value of this function, assuming that the opponent was trying to optimize the value of the same function from its point of view.
Samuel also designed various mechanisms by which his program could become better. In what he called rote learning
Rote learning
Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the...
, the program remembered every position it had already seen, along with the terminal value of the reward function. This technique effectively extended the search depth at each of these positions. Samuel's later programs reevaluated the reward function based on input professional games. He also had it play thousands of games against itself as another way of learning. With all of this work, Samuel’s program reached a respectable amateur status, and was the first to play any board game at this high of level. He continued to work on checkers until the mid-1970s, at which point his program achieved sufficient skill to challenge a respectable amateur.