The History of Artificial Intelligence

The idea of machines acting like humans isn’t new. It dates back thousands of years. Ancient inventors created mechanical devices called automatons; machines that could move on their own, without human assistance. The word automaton comes from Greek and means “acting on its own.” One of the most famous examples was designed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1400s.

But the kind of artificial intelligence we know today started taking shape in the 20th century, when scientists began building machines that could “think” in simple ways. A major milestone was in 1956, when a group of researchers met at Dartmouth College in the U.S. This event, led by John McCarthy, is where the term artificial intelligence was first officially used.

AI’s most recent developments have been especially from 2012 till date. This period has been characterized by search engines, Deep Learning, Big Data, LLMs etc.  Here are a few key moments in recent history:

• 2016: A company called Hanson Robotics created Sophia (robot citizen), a robot designed to look and act like a human.
• 2020: OpenAI launched GPT-3, an AI model that uses Deep learning can write text, answer questions, and even write code, all in a way that sounds like a real person.
• 2021: OpenAI also introduced DALL·E, a tool that creates images from written descriptions. It showed that AI could begin to understand visuals, not just words.

Today, AI tools like virtual assistants, smart search engines, and chatbots are part of everyday life. As technology keeps advancing, it’s clear that AI will play an even bigger role in the future. While we can’t predict everything that’s ahead, it’s an exciting time to learn and explore this fast-changing field.