History of the development of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is an integral part of our lives today. From voice assistants and self-driving cars to personalised recommendations on the internet. But how did this revolutionary technology come about and what has been its evolution?
The origins of artificial intelligence
The concept of machines capable of mimicking human thought has deep roots. Even ancient civilisations dreamed of mechanisms that could act like humans. For example, ancient myths tell stories of mechanical beings such as Talos, a bronze giant created by the god Hephaestus.
But the real foundation for the development of artificial intelligence was laid by mathematics and philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries. René Descartes and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz explored the possibilities of mathematical models of logic and mechanical thought, which inspired later scientists.
The birth of modern AI
The modern age of AI began in the mid-20th century. In 1950, British mathematician Alan Turing published a paper called „Computing Machinery and Intelligence„, where he laid the foundations for a test of machines’ ability to think – the so-called Turing test. This test has become a key measure of machine intelligence.
In 1956, the term „artificial intelligence“ itself first appeared at a conference at Dartmouth. This conference, organized by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon, was considered the beginning of formal AI research.
First steps and expectations
The first AI systems, such as Logic Theorist by Allen Newell and Herbert Simon, were capable of solving logic problems. In the 1960s, text and speech recognition programs began to appear, such as ELIZA, a simple chatbot that mimicked a psychotherapist.
This early phase was accompanied by great optimism. Scientists believed that machines would soon be able to mimic all aspects of human intelligence. However, limited computing resources and lack of data led to the so-called „AI winter“, a period of scepticism and limited funding.
The resurgence and revolution of machine learning
From the 1980s onwards, the field began to experience a renaissance with the advent of neural networks and machine learning algorithms. Deep learning, based on advanced neural networks, began to dominate the field of AI in the 21st century. This advancement has been made possible by increasing computing power, the availability of large datasets, and innovations in algorithms.
A seminal moment was DeepMind’s AlphaGo program’s victory over the Go champion in 2016. This demonstrated the capabilities of AI to solve complex problems.
Present and future
Today, AI permeates many areas of life – from medicine to transportation to entertainment. Technologies such as GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) enable the creation of realistic text and images, while systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini (Google) help with communication and automation.
The future of AI promises to be even more connected to our lives. Further developments in areas such as quantum computing, explainable AI and AI ethics are expected to ensure that these technologies serve humanity safely and effectively.
