Inventions are the pivot points of human history. They reshape how we live, how we think and how we connect with others. Some were born of necessity, others accident, but all had an enduring impact. Taking into consideration impact, adoption and influence with AI to analyze every invention these are the top 15 inventions of all time ranked by AI.

1. Writing

Writing transformed human civilization. It allowed societies to store laws, trade records, literature, and culture across generations. Without writing, history itself would be fragmented. History.com highlights how early innovations like writing forever changed humanity.

2. The Printing Press

The printing press, which Johann Gutenberg is credited with inventing in the 15th century, made knowledge democratic. Books and newspapers were suddenly within the reach of many people promoting learning and science as well as the passing forward of new ideas.

3. The Compass

Navigation made a great stride with the compass. The guidance of voyagers who crossed oceans also opened up trade routes and joined disparate parts of the world. Globalization started here.

4. Gunpowder

Gunpowder originated in China but changed the face of war and defense on nearly every continent. It heralded destruction and a new geopolitical era.

5. Electricity

Fuel and industry ushered in modern life, changing everything from lighting to manufacturing, by capturing it. Today, the invisible pulse of electricity is the lifeblood of all technological systems.

6. The Steam Engine

The steam engine, by powering trains, ships and factories, kicked off the Industrial Revolution. It was the first real step toward mass production and mechanized societies.

7. The Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell invented what would become a game-changing way of communicating. It was the moment when voices could flit across great distances in an instant a revolution in personal and business life.

8. Airplanes

The Wright brothers’ invention in 1903 made the globe small. Airplanes brought otherwise distant people into close exchange creating rapid travel, international tourism and trade and even on a smaller scale, cultural exchange at hitherto unimaginable levels.

9. Automobiles

Beyond mobility, cars symbolized freedom. They altered cities and economies even culture. Today, we’re seeing the real-world fruits of their innovation throughout the global car industry.

10. Antibiotics

The 1928 discovery of penicillin revolutionized medicine. Upon mortality, the infections that had been mortal are cured and life becomes longer, society healthier.

11. Vaccines

Vaccines have saved untold millions of lives, from smallpox to polio. They’re some of the marquee public health victories in history.

12. Computers

From bulky machines to sleek laptops, computers paved the way for automation, AI, and the digital age. LiveScience shares a fascinating timeline of computer history and its impact.

13. The Internet

Two years earlier, the internet went fully commercial and bound into that image on its way to becoming perhaps the most important invention of our time a force that simultaneously connected billions and drove digital economies and opened new paths around the world at an unprecedented pace. The internet is one of the items listed by Britannica lists the internet among the top inventions that changed the world.

14. Smartphones

The integration of computers and telecommunication produced smartphones. They put cameras, apps, banking and information into every pocket and redefined how people lead their modern lives.

15. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The irony is thick: AI, which rates these inventions, embodies a few of the most transformational. From automatons to the app store, AI has always been reshaping the future, but it may one day compete alongside electricity or the internet in its impact. Geeks for Geeks delves deeper into inventions and discoveries that have contributed to the foundation of contemporary AI.

Final Thoughts

From the written word to AI, here are 15 such inventions that remind us that progress is rarely linear. Each advance wasn’t just about solving immediate problems it provided opportunities for whole new worlds to open up. The printing press democratized knowledge, electricity did the same for innovation, antibiotics made it easier to live longer and A.I. is challenging us with the opportunity to change what we even think is possible.

The pattern is clear: the best inventions solve general problems of interest to everyone, scale broadly and provide stepping stones for future discoveries. As AI progresses, the future of the next great thing may already be brewing somewhere.