Definition
The Dartmouth Summer Research Project of 1956 is widely seen as the founding event of AI. John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Claude Shannon and Nathaniel Rochester proposed it in 1955, in the document that first used the term "artificial intelligence". Early programs that followed included the Logic Theorist, the General Problem Solver, ELIZA and the robot Shakey.
In simple words
A few researchers met one summer, sure that a small group could make big progress quickly. They underestimated how hard it was, but that meeting gave the field its name and its first community.
Why it matters
It shows AI's recurring pattern of great hope followed by hard reality. ELIZA also taught an early lesson: people readily believe a simple program understands them, and that still matters with chatbots.
How it works
| Program | Year | Did |
|---|---|---|
| Logic Theorist | 1956 | Proved theorems from a mathematics textbook |
| General Problem Solver | 1957 | Tried a general method for solving problems |
| ELIZA | 1966 | Imitated a therapist using simple pattern matching |
| Shakey | 1966–72 | A mobile robot that planned its own actions |
Try it yourself
The road to the first AI meeting
Travel through the early years of the idea.
Place the early milestones in order
Arrange these events from earliest to latest.
- 1Shakey becomes the first robot to plan its own actions
- 2Joseph Weizenbaum's ELIZA chats like a therapist
- 3Alan Turing asks "Can machines think?" and proposes the imitation game
- 4Frank Rosenblatt builds the Perceptron, an early learning machine
- 5The Dartmouth workshop gives the field the name artificial intelligence
Common mistakes
- Thinking early AI failed entirely. Search, logic and planning from that era are still in use.
- Assuming that a program which sounds caring understands you. That's known as the ELIZA effect.
Check yourself
Summary
- Dartmouth, 1956, gave AI its name and start.
- Early programs worked in small worlds.
- ELIZA showed how easily people assume understanding.
Finished reading?
Sources: Dartmouth proposal (1955) · Russell & Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, ch. 1