Was there artificial life in the ancient world?
A question for Dr Alan Dorin
FROM vending machines to dancing puppets and whistling metal birds, technology was alive and well in the ancient world, according to Monash University computer scientist Alan Dorin. He says every time humans devise a new technology we dream up ways of using it to build artificial life — technological reproductions of living organisms. And the ingenuity of a few ancient Greek engineers who worked at this was extraordinary.
How did you end up doing history?
I write software to simulate biological processes for scientific research, to understand how organisms and ecosystems function, and for artistic reasons to explore our relationships with the natural world. It turns out what I'm doing with software is something humans have always done: making representations of living things. The earliest archaeological sites reveal figurines, paintings and rock carvings but as technology improved, people started applying it to more sophisticated mimicry of life, such as by animating articulated sculptures.
Such as puppets?
Exactly. Once people could build a self-contained device that included a power source, then mechanical puppets — or automata — could act independently of humans.
How did the ancient Greeks do this?
Their power source was a falling weight or running water. This was used to move spindles or gears that pulled cords and levers to activate sculptures.
How long ago?
The first references we have that are clearly not just about gods creating life (such as in Homer's poetry, about 800 BC) are from around 250 BC.
What technologies were around then?
The ancient Greeks built geared simulations of the cosmos — for instance, what's called the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient astronomical calendar. It's probably the most complex device we've found from the ancient world. In the context of automata there were two miniature automatic theatres constructed by a guy called Hero of Alexandria.
What a great name.
Yes! One of these theatres was self-moving. It actually rolled onto the stage by itself, stopped and then performed. The performance had fires flaring on altars, sound effects and little dancing statues. After the performance, the theatre rolled offstage by itself. That, I think, was the first programmable device, which is significant because usually people think of the first programmable device as being a loom made by an inventor called Jacquard in about 1800.
So, a lot earlier?
Nearly 1800 years before that. The other theatre Hero's known for wasn't self-moving but had several separate scenes including props and characters for each one. These changed automatically. That theatre was telling an ancient Greek myth.
It's fascinating research.
It is funny, too, that I've been looking at this stuff for 15 years and I have noticed in the past couple of years there's a resurgence of interest in these old mechanical devices. Have you seen the popular film Hugo, for example? That was based on a true story of an automaton recovered from a burnt-out museum.
So what is happening in society that piques people's interest in the past in this way?
I don't know. Maybe people are getting tired of the digital world and they enjoy the idea that these are physical toys. They're the predecessors to the Sony AIBO [robot], much more clunky but such a curiosity.
There's a childhood element here, too?
That's really interesting. A lot of the earliest automata are based on mechanical toys — the same kind you see now. Even the ancient Egyptian children, back to at least 2500 BC, had simple mechanical toys like pull-along animals on wheels. There is a really old toy crocodile, where if you pull the string through his head, his jaws snap.
And the theatres of Hero?
I'm guessing they probably weren't really for children. We're very hard to amaze now; we've seen everything, but these theatres were so complex and incredible for their time, most people would have been amazed. Many of Hero's other inventions were used in the temples of the time.
The priests would pay Hero to build some kind of wonder that would attract people to their temple. Hero invented the first vending machine — for holy water. You popped a coin in and it released a measured amount of holy water for you to wash your hands at the door. That meant the priest didn't have to stand there, collecting money.
And other mechanical tricks?
Yes, automatic doors. These worked by hidden mechanism under the floor. The priest would light a fire on an altar. That heated water in pipes, causing it to flow into a bucket that acted as a weight, which then pulled on ropes to rotate the hinges of the doors. It looked like the gods had responded to the fire … and the temple doors had just opened by themselves.