History of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has profoundly transformed the modern world, changing the way we live and work. This article explores the history of AI in detail, tracing the main stages in its evolution from early ideas to recent advances in machine learning and deep learning.

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The origins of AI

The first traces of mechanical thinking and the creation of artificial entities date back to ancient times. Greek and Roman myths tell of artificial creatures created by the gods or human craftsmen, such as Talos or the Golem.

The Middle Ages: with mechanisms such as automata, designed to simulate human or animal movements, the idea of creating artificial entities began to take concrete form.

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First drafts of Thinking Machines

Inventors such as Blaise Pascal and Charles Babbage designed machines capable of performing complex calculations, laying the foundations for the concept of mechanical calculation.

Alan Turing proposed the concept of the universal machine, capable of solving any problem that can be expressed by algorithms, thus paving the way for modern computers.

Birth of the AI concept

In 1950, Turing proposed the famous test to determine whether a machine could impersonate a human in a conversation.

John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester and Claude Shannon organised this seminal conference, where the term "artificial intelligence" was used for the first time.

The first programmes capable of simulating human reasoning, such as Logic Theorist (1955) and General Problem Solver (1957), demonstrated the potential of computers for AI.

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A period of famine

Initial high expectations lead to financial disengagement due to technical limitations, slowing down research.

Limitations in understanding natural language and the difficulty of applying programmes to real-world problems are leading to a retreat.

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Renaissance of AI (1990-2000)

The increase in computing power and the growing availability of data are enabling AI to progress.

Expert systems are beginning to offer specialised solutions in a variety of fields, from medical diagnostics to finance.

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The modern era of AI

The emergence of machine learning and deep learning is revolutionising AI, with applications ranging from facial recognition to autonomous cars.

Massive data collection and analysis enable machine learning algorithms to improve continuously.