What they got right

It would be easy to dismiss them. Don't.

Newell and Simon were right that intelligence involves search. They were right that problems can be represented as formal structures. They were right that machines could do meaningful cognitive work.

They were wrong about the timeline. They were wrong about the method being sufficient. They were wrong about how hard the hard parts would be.

But they gave the field its vocabulary, its first working programs, and the conviction that the question was worth pursuing. Every AI researcher who came after them built on what they started.

They didn't solve intelligence. They opened the door.

Every researcher who came after stood on what they built.