History of Artificial Intelligence

In his 1950 paper titled “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” Alan Turing explored whether machines could think. In this paper, Turing first coined the term artificial intelligence and presented it as a theoretical and philosophical concept. However, the AI we know today is the result of the collective efforts of many scientists and engineers over several decades from 1940 to 1980.

In 1943, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts proposed a model for artificial neurons, laying the groundwork for neural networks, a foundational technology within artificial intelligence.

Quickly following this, in 1950, Alan Turing published “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” where he introduced the Turing Test to evaluate machine intelligence.

This led graduate students Marvin Minsky and Dean Edmonds to build the first neural network machine known as SNARC, while Frank Rosenblatt developed the Perceptron, one of the earliest models of neural networks. Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, one of the first chatbots designed to simulate a psychotherapist, between 1951 and 1969.

From 1969 to 1979, Marvin Minsky demonstrated the limitations of neural networks, resulting in a temporary decline in neural network research. The first “AI winter” occurred due to decreased funding and limitations in hardware and computing.