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Dartmouth Workshop — Wikipedia
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Essential historical context for understanding the origins of AI as a field; relevant background for anyone studying how AI research goals and culture were established, which informs modern safety and alignment debates.
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Importance: 45/100wiki pagereference
Summary
The 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence is widely regarded as the founding event of AI as a formal field of study. Organized by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon, the eight-week workshop coined the term 'artificial intelligence' and set the foundational research agenda for the discipline.
Key Points
- •The workshop is often called 'the Constitutional Convention of AI' and is the moment the term 'artificial intelligence' was officially adopted.
- •Organized by four founding figures: John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon.
- •Held at Dartmouth College in summer 1956, it was an extended brainstorming session lasting six to eight weeks.
- •The name 'artificial intelligence' was deliberately chosen by McCarthy for its neutrality, distinguishing the field from cybernetics and automata theory.
- •Historically significant as the origin point of AI research culture, goals, and terminology that continue to shape modern AI development.
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| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Early Warnings Era | Historical | 31.0 |
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# Dartmouth workshop
Dartmouth workshop
This article is about conferences related to artificial intelligence. For the peace process conferences, see [Dartmouth Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Conference "Dartmouth Conference").
1956 scientific conference on artificial intelligence
|  |
| Date | 1956(1956) |
| Duration | Eight weeks |
| Venue | [Dartmouth College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_College "Dartmouth College"), [Hanover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover,_New_Hampshire "Hanover, New Hampshire"), New Hampshire |
| Organised by | [John McCarthy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCarthy_(computer_scientist) "John McCarthy (computer scientist)"), [Marvin Minsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Minsky "Marvin Minsky"), [Nathaniel Rochester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Rochester_(computer_scientist) "Nathaniel Rochester (computer scientist)"), and [Claude Shannon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon "Claude Shannon") |
| Participants | John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, Claude Shannon, and others |
Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence
The **Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence** was a 1956 summer workshop widely considered[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-auto-3) to be the founding event of [artificial intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence "Artificial intelligence") as a field.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-4) The workshop has been referred to as "the Constitutional Convention of AI".[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-5) The project's four organizers, those being [Claude Shannon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon "Claude Shannon"), [John McCarthy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCarthy_(computer_scientist) "John McCarthy (computer scientist)"), [Nathaniel Rochester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Rochester_(computer_scientist) "Nathaniel Rochester (computer scientist)") and [Marvin Minsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Minsky "Marvin Minsky"), are considered some of the founding fathers of AI.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-6)[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop#cite_note-7)
The project lasted approximately six to eight weeks and was essentially an extended [brainstorming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming "Brainstorming") session. Eleven mathematicians and scientists originally planned to attend; not all of them attended, but more than ten others came for short times.
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