Margaret Boden, a pioneering British philosopher and cognitive scientist who used computational concepts to explore human thought and creativity, died on July 18 at age 88 in Brighton, England. Her groundbreaking work helped establish cognitive science as a field and offered prescient insights about artificial intelligence’s possibilities and limitations, shaping philosophical conversations about human and machine intelligence for decades.
What you should know: Boden was a trailblazing academic who helped establish the University of Sussex’s Center for Cognitive Science in the early 1970s, bringing together interdisciplinary researchers to study the mind.
- She produced influential books including “The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms” (1990) and “Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science” (2006).
- Despite being unable to use computers effectively herself, saying “I can’t cope with the damn things,” she viewed computing as crucial for understanding human thought mechanisms.
- Her work challenged traditional views of creativity, arguing it wasn’t divine inspiration but a process that could be modeled and simulated by computers.
Why this matters: Boden’s interdisciplinary approach helped legitimize cognitive science and demonstrated how philosophical inquiry could directly inform scientific research in AI and psychology.
- Her work bridged the gap between abstract philosophical concepts and practical computational models of human cognition.
- She provided a unique perspective as a philosopher who actively shaped scientific understanding rather than merely commenting on it.
What experts are saying: Blay Whitby, a philosopher and ethicist, emphasized Boden’s unique contribution to science.
- “What’s unique about Maggie is that she’s a philosopher who has informed, inspired and shaped science,” Whitby said on BBC’s “The Life Scientific” in 2014.
- “It’s important I emphasize that, because many modern scientists say that philosophers have got nothing to tell them, and they’d be advised to look at the work and life of Maggie Boden.”
Her legacy: Boden’s polymathic approach and erudite scholarship made her a trailblazer in a male-dominated field, establishing frameworks for understanding creativity and intelligence that continue to influence AI research today.
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