# Cybernetics and the Birth of the AI Field (1940s–1950s)

The term "artificial intelligence" was coined in 1956, but its intellectual roots include cybernetics, control theory, and Turing's question. This sub-article expands [Section 2 of History](../history.md).

## Cybernetics
- **Norbert Wiener's *Cybernetics* (1948)** framed control and communication in animals and machines.
- Core concepts: feedback loops, homeostasis, information, and purpose.
- Cybernetics influenced robotics, control theory, and early AI.

## Turing's Question
- In *Computing Machinery and Intelligence* (1950), Turing asked "Can machines think?" and introduced the **Turing test**.
- He predicted machines would eventually play chess and converse, and sketched learning by "reward and punishment."

## The Dartmouth Workshop (1956)
- Organized by McCarthy, Minsky, Rochester, and Shannon.
- Coined **artificial intelligence** and defined the field's founding goal: to simulate every aspect of learning and intelligence.

## Early Programs
- **Logic Theorist** (Newell & Simon, 1956) proved theorems in propositional logic.
- **General Problem Solver** (1957) applied means–ends analysis to diverse problems.
- **Samuel's checkers program** (1959) pioneered machine learning via self-play.

## Why It Matters
The 1950s established AI as a distinct field, defined its central question, and produced the first programs that reasoned, learned, and played games.

## Sources
- Wiener, N. (1948). *Cybernetics.*
- Turing, A. M. (1950). *Computing Machinery and Intelligence.*
- McCarthy, J. et al. (1955). *A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project.*

*Back to [History](../history.md) · Next: [Symbolic AI](symbolic-ai.md).*