Detailed Explanation: The General Problem Solver (GPS) was developed to demonstrate that a general-purpose problem-solving machine could tackle a wide variety of issues by using heuristics—rules of thumb that guide the search for solutions. GPS operates by representing problems in a formalized structure of goals and subgoals, transforming the initial state into the goal state through a sequence of operators. Its significance lies in pioneering the concept of problem-solving as a search process, influencing later AI research and development, particularly in areas like automated reasoning, planning, and cognitive simulation.
Historical Overview: The GPS program was developed by Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon in 1957. It gained significant attention in the early 1960s as one of the first AI systems capable of solving a broad range of problems, marking a substantial milestone in AI research by formalizing problem-solving techniques that are still foundational today.
Key Contributors: The primary contributors to the development of GPS are Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon. Their collaboration at the RAND Corporation and Carnegie Mellon University led to significant advancements in AI, cognitive psychology, and the establishment of the field of artificial intelligence itself. Their work on GPS was instrumental in earning them the Turing Award in 1975.