An early attempt at creating a universal problem solving machine. Developed in 1957 by Herbert Simon, J.C. Shaw and Allen Newell, the General Problem Solver (GPS) was designed to solve any problem that could be expressed in a well-formed formula (WFF). Although GPS solved very basic problems, the computers of the time were not powerful enough to solve more difficult ones. However, later on, the General Problem Solver did influence research into AI. See
AI in a nutshell and
AI types.