- By Sarju Saran Tiwari
- Tue, 30 Dec 2025 04:27 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Father of Artificial Intelligence: One of the greatest innovators in the field of AI was John McCarthy, who is widely considered the "father of artificial intelligence" for coining the term "artificial intelligence" in 1956 and organising the Dartmouth Conference, which is considered the birth of AI as a field of study. He is also known for developing LISP, a crucial language for AI research. He was a key figure in defining AI and bringing together its early researchers, and he received the Turing Award for his fundamental contributions.
While AI was popularised during the OpenAI era of 2018, its roots stretch back to the 1920s. The history of AI is divided into many eras, starting from the groundwork in 1920 and the birth of AI in 1956, which created a base for what we have today.
Who Was John McCarthy?
John McCarthy (1927–2011), an American computer scientist often referred to as the "father of artificial intelligence" (AI), made significant contributions to both AI and computer science.
Image Credit: INDEPENDENT
One of McCarthy's most notable contributions to computer science was the development of the LISP (List Processing) programming language, which was specifically designed for AI research and became one of the most important languages in the field. He also introduced the concept of time-sharing in computing, which laid the foundation for modern interactive computing.
What Is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables computers and machines to learn, understand, solve problems, make decisions, and act creatively and autonomously, much like humans.
AI-powered applications and devices can see and recognise objects. They can understand and respond to human language. They can learn from new information and experiences. They can provide detailed recommendations to users and experts. They can operate autonomously, eliminating the need for human thought or intervention (a classic example being self-driving cars).
However, in 2025, most AI researchers, practitioners, and AI-related headlines are focused on recent breakthroughs in generative AI Or GenAI, a technology that can create original text, images, videos, and other content. To fully understand generative AI, it's essential to first understand the technologies upon which generative AI tools are built: machine learning (ML) and deep learning.
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While McCarthy is the "Father," others like Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun, and Yoshua Bengio are called "Godfathers of Deep Learning" for their work on neural networks.