When and where did AI begin?

Almost 80 years ago, in the mid 1950s, Dartmouth Professor John McCarthy coined the term Artificial Intelligence (AI) to describe calculators that could mimic human intelligence. Prior to joining Dartmouth faculty, McCarthy had studied mathematics in the California Institute of Technology, and had obtained a PhD in mathematics from Princeton University.

In 1955, Professor McCarthy and Claude Shannon, a founder of information theory then at Bell Labs, began to discuss the idea of hosting a Summer academic workshop to discuss AI. On September 2, 1955, the workshop seminar was formally proposed by McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon. 
We propose that a 2-month, 10-man study of artificial intelligence be carried out during the summer of 1956 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. 

                "The study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves. We think that a significant advance can be made in one or more of these problems if a carefully selected group of scientists work on it together for a summer." -- Dartmouth 1956 Artificial Intelligence Workshop Proposal

The proposal for the Dartmouth Workshop was a visionary document, widely considered the conception of the field of AI. The proposal tied AI to computers, natural language processing, and neural networks. The "Dartmouth Workshop" was held in the Summer of 1956. The workshop was attended by twenty renowned mathematicians and pioneer computer scientists. 

In the 78 years since the workshop, humanity has witnessed the rise of computers, the internet, and AI. The workshop was a milestone in human history, commencing to formally pave the way to the AI revolution that is finally coming to fruition today. Not unlike Dartmouth's motto, a vox clamantis in deserto, the 20 AI pioneers who attended the Dartmouth Workshop were visionaries calling the future of AI. 

Fast forward 78 years to the Summer of 2023, and AI is no longer science fiction, but an integral part of our present reality. It is highly probable and likely that AI will continue expanding and changing everything. AI may become the most transcendental technology in the history of humanity so far. 

Human history can be seen as a tale of the technologies (machines and methods) that we have created over time with our biological intelligence. We have now reached a pivotal point in our history where we have created the thinking machines envisioned about 80 years ago by the forerunners of the AI movement. This is going to be interesting; very interesting. Chances are that many fortunes will be lost, and many more will be made in the AI gold rush. 

Creatix.one, artificial intelligence (AI) consulting for everyone. The mission is to broker the acquisition of AI skills, products, and services. The vision is the sustainment of optimal performance powered by symbiotic artificial and biological intelligence. 

Creatix.one, artificial intelligence (AI) consulting for everyone. The mission is to facilitate the understanding of AI to broker profitable AI skills, products, and services. The vision is the sustainment of optimal performance powered by artificial and biological intelligence.