John McCarthy, organizer of the Dartmouth Conference

The Dartmouth Conference

Research BreakthroughsThe Birth of AI
Impact

What Happened

A two-month workshop at Dartmouth College where the term 'Artificial Intelligence' was officially coined. The proposal stated: 'Every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.' This gathering brought together the founders of the field.

Why It Mattered

Founded AI as an academic discipline. The optimism and ambition set at Dartmouth drove decades of research — and the inevitable disappointment when early promises weren't met.

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Part of the The Birth of AI (1956–1969) era · Browse all research breakthroughs · View all 1956 milestones

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