Milestone · 1973
James Lighthill prepared a critical survey of artificial-intelligence research for the British research council.
The report questioned whether the methods of the day could scale to real problems and affected research funding in the United Kingdom.
It is an assessment of the field, not a technical result. The scale of its consequences is judged differently by different accounts.
Science Research Council (archived transcription) · Published 1973
Both texts assess the expectations of the time critically, each in its own area.
The Edinburgh page sets the two side by side: the Lighthill report came out early in 1973, and the robot that assembles a toy from a heap of parts was ready the same year; the report provoked the loss of confidence in AI in this very laboratory.
History of Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh