Who created AI and where?

Where Did Artificial Intelligence Begin?

The story of artificial intelligence as we know it started not in a high-tech lab, but in a modest academic setting—the Dartmouth Summer Research Project of 1956. It was here that the term "Artificial Intelligence" was officially coined by John McCarthy, a young mathematician at the time. He didn’t just name the field—he helped give it direction.

The workshop, held at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, brought together some of the most brilliant minds of the era. Among them were Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon, who had already begun developing early problem-solving programs; Arthur Samuel, known for his pioneering work in machine learning; Ray Solomonoff, a founder of algorithmic information theory; and Oliver Selfridge, a leader in pattern recognition. Trenchard More also contributed foundational insights. Though the workshop lasted only a few weeks, its impact was lasting.

These thinkers shared a bold vision: that machines could one day simulate human intelligence. They believed—perhaps optimistically—that significant progress could be made in just a single summer. While AI’s evolution proved far more complex than they anticipated, the seeds were sown. The Dartmouth Workshop didn’t just introduce a term—it launched a movement.

From that moment on, AI became a formal field of scientific inquiry. The participants went on to develop some of the earliest programs that could reason, learn, and adapt. McCarthy’s naming of the field gave researchers a common identity, helping to unify efforts across disciplines and institutions.

So while no single person "invented" AI in isolation, the collective spark at Dartmouth—led by McCarthy’s vision—marks the true beginning of artificial intelligence as we know it.