Who Invented Artificial Intelligence? A Brief History
Short answer: no single person "invented" artificial intelligence. The phrase and the organized field began at Dartmouth in 1956, while ideas from Alan Turing and many others made the field possible. This guide answers who invented artificial intelligence and maps the key people and events.
Quick answer: who invented artificial intelligence
The phrase "artificial intelligence" was used when researchers organized a focused workshop at Dartmouth in 1956. That event helped turn scattered ideas into a named research area.
Turing and early ideas
Alan Turing set key ideas in motion with his 1950 paper. He asked whether machines could think and proposed a practical test that shaped later debate.
Turing offered questions and concepts rather than a formal research program. Later researchers used his work as a foundation when they built actual systems.
Dartmouth and John McCarthy - where the name began
In 1955 John McCarthy and collaborators proposed a summer workshop that ran at Dartmouth in 1956. The proposal used the phrase "artificial intelligence" and argued the topic could be studied scientifically. Many historians treat this workshop as the start of AI as a named field.
The Dartmouth meeting helped participants form labs, secure funding, and coordinate follow-up projects.
Read the Dartmouth proposal: A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence.
Other pioneers often credited
Other early contributors include Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, Claude Shannon, and later researchers such as Geoffrey Hinton who advanced neural approaches. Each added work that turned ideas into systems and tools.
Compact comparison - early roles
| Person | Role | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Turing | Theorist | Framed the machine intelligence question in 1950. |
| John McCarthy | Organizer | Coined the term "artificial intelligence" and organized Dartmouth, 1956. |
| Marvin Minsky | Builder | Worked on early systems and lab leadership. |
| Herbert A. Simon, Allen Newell | System designers | Built early symbolic AI programs and models. |
Why asking "who invented" can be misleading
Invention implies a single moment or person. AI grew through many ideas and experiments over decades. Naming key people is useful, but the field is collective.
For marketers, the main point is that AI blends deep theory and practical milestones. That mix explains both current capabilities and limits.
Quick overview reading: Britannica - History of artificial intelligence.
Conclusion
There is no single inventor of artificial intelligence. Alan Turing shaped the early questions, and John McCarthy and collaborators gave the field its name at Dartmouth in 1956. Many researchers then turned ideas into working systems.
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Frequently asked questions
Who first used the term "artificial intelligence"?
John McCarthy and collaborators used the phrase in the Dartmouth proposal and at the 1956 workshop.
Did Alan Turing invent AI?
Turing did not invent AI as a field. His 1950 paper framed lasting questions that guided later work.
What happened at the Dartmouth workshop?
The 1956 Dartmouth workshop gathered scientists to study whether machines could simulate intelligence and helped form follow-up labs and projects.
Last updated: 2025-09-23