History and Evolution of AI

The journey of AI began long before the machines we know today. The concept of machines simulating human intelligence has existed for centuries, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that it began to materialize into a scientific field. Pioneers like Alan Turing, who proposed the idea of a “universal machine,” laid the groundwork for artificial intelligence. His famous Turing Test, introduced in 1950, challenged the concept of machine intelligence by asking whether a machine could exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human.

Despite early optimism, AI faced setbacks—known as the “AI winters”—when progress stalled due to limitations in computing power and funding. However, with the advent of more powerful computers and access to vast amounts of data, AI experienced a resurgence in the 2000s. Technologies such as deep learning, which mimics the way the human brain works, helped push AI into new territories, like self-driving cars and voice recognition systems.

In this chapter, we’ll take a deep dive into the key moments that shaped the AI landscape—from its humble beginnings to its current state of rapid advancement. By examining milestones like IBM’s Deep Blue defeating Garry Kasparov in 1997 and the success of Google’s AlphaGo, we’ll gain insight into how AI has evolved and where it is headed.