🎓 Lesson 2: A Brief History of AI
Lesson Objective:
To provide learners with a simple, clear timeline of the major events in the development of Artificial Intelligence — from its early ideas to modern breakthroughs.
What This Lesson Will Cover:
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Where the idea of AI began
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The major milestones and breakthroughs
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The key people and technologies involved
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Why AI has accelerated in the past decade
What is the History of AI?
While AI feels like a new topic, it’s actually been developing for more than 70 years. The concept of machines that can think has inspired scientists, philosophers, and engineers for decades.
Let’s explore the journey 👇
📜 AI Timeline: Key Moments in History
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Alan Turing publishes “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” — asks: “Can machines think?” |
| 1956 | The term “Artificial Intelligence” is coined at the Dartmouth Conference — considered the birth of AI |
| 1966–1975 | Early AI programs are created (like ELIZA, an early chatbot). Hopes are high, but computers are slow and limited. |
| 1970s–1980s | Funding slows down; this is known as the “AI Winter” due to lack of progress. |
| 1997 | IBM’s Deep Blue defeats world chess champion Garry Kasparov — a major symbolic moment. |
| 2006 | The term “deep learning” gains attention — a breakthrough in how machines learn from data. |
| 2011 | IBM Watson beats human champions on the quiz show Jeopardy! |
| 2012 | Deep Learning proves its power in image recognition (ImageNet competition). |
| 2016 | Google’s AlphaGo defeats the world champion of Go — a complex strategy game. |
| 2022–2023 | ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL·E, and other AI tools revolutionize content creation and human interaction with AI. |
Why Did AI Accelerate Recently?
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More Data: Billions of online actions, images, and videos = more examples for machines to learn from
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Better Hardware: GPUs (Graphic Processing Units) can process huge volumes of data quickly
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Smarter Algorithms: Especially neural networks and transformers (used in ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Llama, DeepSeek, etc)
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Cloud Computing: AI models can be trained and run at global scale using cloud infrastructure
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Open Source + Community: More shared tools, knowledge, and collaboration
🌟 Key Figures in AI History
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Alan Turing – Mathematician, laid the foundation for AI thinking
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John McCarthy – Coined the term Artificial Intelligence
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Marvin Minsky – Early AI researcher, co-founder of MIT’s AI lab
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Geoffrey Hinton – Father of deep learning
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Yoshua Bengio & Yann LeCun – Deep learning pioneers
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Fei-Fei Li – Created ImageNet; a breakthrough in training computers to “see”
Then vs. Now
| Then (1956–2000s) | Now (2023–…) |
|---|---|
| Slow computers | Fast GPUs and TPUs |
| Limited data | Billions of online examples |
| Simple algorithms | Complex deep learning models |
| Mostly academic | Widely used in business, healthcare, education |
| Predictable systems | Creative and adaptive systems (e.g., ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Llama, Claude, DeepSeek, etc ) |
Reflection Prompt (for Learners)
Which historical AI event surprised or impressed you the most?
Why do you think the public only became widely aware of AI in recent years?
✅ Quick Quiz (for practice; not scored)
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Who is considered the father of modern AI thinking?
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What was the name of the early chatbot created in the 1960s?
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What was the “AI Winter”?
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What breakthrough game did AlphaGo win in 2016?
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When was the term “Artificial Intelligence” coined?
Key Takeaway
AI may feel like magic, but it has a long, fascinating history of slow growth, big breakthroughs, and steady evolution. Today’s public-facing AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Claude, Llama, and DeepSeek stand on the shoulders of decades of research, failure, and progress.