Automaton
[related: Al-Jazari]
A self-operating and, by some definitions, self-aware machine - a term that predates but accurately describes modern mechanically-housed or otherwise physicalized artificial intelligences such as Deep Blue. The term automaton first appears in the writings of Homer in Greek Mythology: he describes rows of self-guided, anthropomorphic machines parading out of Vulcan's workshop. The Kabbalah documents the creation of all manner of animalistic automata by King Solomon[1] - primarily to assemble and defend his great temple. Additional accounts of automata were documented in Hindu scripture, in various Sanskrit codices, and by the pen of the famed "father of robotics", Muslim scholar Al-Jazari, who described a plethora of complex mechanical humanoids in his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.