As it is a science, Artificial Intelligence would not exist without hundreds of skilled scientists and mathematicians working collectively over the span of the last century to perfect it. Through a combination of a far-reaching vision, expert skill with computers, and sometimes just dumb luck, these people have made incredible breakthroughs in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Their original discoveries are still being integrated into today’s advanced algorithms and current technologies.
Alan Turing and Isaac Asimov’s best-known contributions to the field are their predictions and goals for the future of Artificial Intelligence. We are still trying to reach those goals today in spite of the fact that those who scripted them have been dead for several years. Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy were alive when computers were first becoming widely used and they pioneered many AI advancements in that new medium. Both are still alive and teaching at prominent colleges today. And both are still very active in further developing the field of Artificial Intelligence.
In this section, you will find information about four such people. Their histories and individual contributions to the field of Artificial Intelligence are a good backdrop from which we can view and compare the origins of current AI technologies and techniques.
See: John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Alan Turing, Isaac Asimov