F7 · Where AI Came From
The Shortest Way There
Explain how A* uses a guess of the distance left to search far fewer places than a blind search, and still find the shortest route.
A map app finds a route across Riyadh in a blink. It does not try every street in the city. Its tricks build on search ideas from the 1950s and 60s. One of the best known was published in 1968.