Artificial intelligence (AI) as a concept has roots going back centuries, with early philosophical ideas about knowledge and machine-like thinking dating as far back as the 1700s. However, AI as a formal scientific discipline and practical endeavor began in the mid-20th century:
- In 1950, Alan Turing published his seminal work "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," proposing what became known as the Turing Test to evaluate machine intelligence.
- The term "artificial intelligence" was coined in 1955 by John McCarthy, who is often credited as the inventor of AI. He organized the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence in 1956, which is considered the founding event of AI as an academic discipline.
- Early successful AI programs appeared in the early 1950s, including checkers-playing programs by Christopher Strachey (UK) and Arthur Samuel (US).
Thus, AI "came out" as a formally named and recognized field starting in the 1950s, particularly with the 1956 Dartmouth conference marking its birth as an academic and research discipline. Before this, ideas and foundational work were developed over preceding decades. In summary, AI emerged as a defined field and began to be developed in practical terms in the 1950s, with landmark contributions from Alan Turing and John McCarthy leading the way.
