History of artificial intelligence

Part of a series on
Artificial intelligence
Major goals Artificial general intelligence Intelligent agent Recursive self-improvement Planning Computer vision General game playing Knowledge reasoning Natural language processing Robotics AI safety
Approaches Machine learning Symbolic Deep learning Bayesian networks Evolutionary algorithms Hybrid intelligent systems Systems integration
Applications Bioinformatics Deepfake Earth sciences Finance Generative AI Art Audio Music Government Healthcare Industry Mental health Machine translation Military Physics Projects
Philosophy Artificial consciousness Chinese room Friendly AI Control problem/Takeover Ethics Existential risk Turing test Regulation
History Timeline Progress AI winter AI boom
Glossary Glossary
v t e

History of computing
Hardware
Hardware before 1960 Hardware 1960s to present
Software
Software Software configuration management Unix Free software and open-source software
Computer science
Artificial intelligence Compiler construction Early computer science Operating systems Programming languages Prominent pioneers Software engineering
Modern concepts
General-purpose CPUs Graphical user interface Internet Laptops Personal computers Video games World Wide Web Cloud
By country
Bulgaria Eastern Bloc Poland Romania South America Soviet Union Yugoslavia
Timeline of computing
before 1950 1950–1979 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present more timelines ...
Glossary of computer science
Category
v t e

The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence or consciousness by master craftsmen. The study of logic and formal reasoning from antiquity to the present led directly to the invention of the programmable digital computer in the 1940s, a machine based on the abstract essence of mathematical reasoning. This device and the ideas behind it inspired a handful of scientists to begin seriously discussing the possibility of building an electronic brain.

The field of AI research was founded at a workshop held on the campus of Dartmouth College during the summer of 1956.^[1] Attendees of the workshop became the leaders of AI research for decades. Many of them predicted that machines as intelligent as humans would exist within a generation. The U.S. government provided millions of dollars to make this vision come true.^[2]

Eventually, it became obvious that researchers had grossly underestimated the difficulty of the project.^[3] In 1974, criticism from James Lighthill and pressure from the U.S. Congress led the U.S. and British Governments to stop funding undirected research into artificial intelligence. Seven years later, a visionary initiative by the Japanese Government and the success of expert systems reinvigorated investment in AI and by the late 80s the industry had grown into the billions of dollars. However, investors' enthusiasm waned in the 1990s and the field was criticized in the press and avoided by industry (a period known as the "AI Winter"). Nevertheless, research and funding continued to grow under other names.

In the early 2000s, machine learning was applied to a wide range of problems in academic and industry. The success was due to the availability of powerful computer hardware, the collection of immense data sets and the application of solid mathematical methods. In 2012, deep learning proved to be a breakthrough technology, eclipsing all other methods. The transformer architecture debuted in 2017 and was used to produce impressive generative AI applications. Investment in AI surged in the 2020s.