Dartmouth workshop

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Short description: 1956 scientific conference on artificial intelligence
Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence
Date1956 (1956)
DurationEight weeks
VenueDartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Organised byJohn McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon
ParticipantsJohn McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, Claude Shannon, and others

The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence was a 1956 summer workshop widely considered[1][2][3] to be the founding event of artificial intelligence as a field.[4] The workshop has been referred to as "the Constitutional Convention of AI".[5] The project's four organizers, Claude Shannon, John McCarthy, Nathaniel Rochester and Marvin Minsky, are considered some of the "founding fathers" of AI.[6][7] However it was not the first conference devoted to what would now be described as the question of artificial intelligence: it postdated meetings such as the 1951 Paris cybernetics conference[8] and the Macy meetings.

The project lasted approximately six to eight weeks and consisted largely of brainstorming sessions. Eleven mathematicians and scientists originally planned to attend; not all of them attended, but more than ten others came for short times.

Background

In the early 1950s, there were various names for the field of "thinking machines": cybernetics, automata theory, and complex information processing.[9] The variety of names suggests the variety of conceptual orientations.

In 1955, John McCarthy, then a young Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, decided to organize a group to clarify and develop ideas about thinking machines. He picked the name 'Artificial Intelligence' for the new field. He chose the name partly for its neutrality; avoiding a focus on narrow automata theory, and avoiding cybernetics which was heavily focused on analog feedback, as well as him potentially having to accept the assertive Norbert Wiener as guru or having to argue with him.[10]

In early 1955, McCarthy approached the Rockefeller Foundation to request funding for a summer seminar at Dartmouth for about 10 participants. In June, he and Claude Shannon, a founder of information theory then at Bell Labs, met with Robert Morison, Director of Biological and Medical Research to discuss the idea and possible funding, though Morison was unsure whether money would be made available for such a visionary project.[11]

On September 2, 1955, the project was formally proposed by McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester and Claude Shannon. The proposal is credited with introducing the term 'artificial intelligence'.

The Proposal states:[12][13]

The proposal goes on to discuss computers, natural language processing, neural networks, theory of computation, abstraction and creativity (these areas within the field of artificial intelligence are considered still relevant to the work of the field).

On May 26, 1956, McCarthy notified Robert Morison of the planned 11 attendees:

For the full period:

1) Dr. Marvin Minsky
2) Dr. Julian Bigelow
3) Professor D.M. Mackay
4) Mr. Ray Solomonoff
5) Mr. John Holland
6) Dr. John McCarthy

For four weeks:

7) Dr. Claude Shannon
8) Mr. Nathaniel Rochester
9) Mr. Oliver Selfridge

For the first two weeks:

10) Dr. Allen Newell
11) Professor Herbert Simon

He noted, "we will concentrate on a problem of devising a way of programming a calculator to form concepts and to form generalizations. This of course is subject to change when the group gets together."[3]

The actual participants came at different times, mostly for much shorter times. Trenchard More replaced Rochester for three weeks and MacKay and Holland did not attend—but the project was set to begin.

Around June 18, 1956, the earliest participants (perhaps only Ray Solomonoff, maybe with Tom Etter) arrived at the Dartmouth campus in Hanover, N.H., to join John McCarthy who already had an apartment there. Solomonoff and Minsky stayed at Professors' apartments, but most would stay at the Hanover Inn.

Dates

The Dartmouth Workshop is usually said to have run for six weeks.[14] Ray Solomonoff's notes taken during the workshop, however, indicate that it ran for roughly eight weeks, from about June 18 to August 17.[15] Solomonoff's notes start on June 22; June 28 mentions Minsky, June 30 mentions Hanover, N.H., July 1 mentions Tom Etter. On August 17, Solomonoff gave a final talk.[16]

Participants

Initially, McCarthy lost his list of attendees. Instead, after the workshop, McCarthy sent Solomonoff a preliminary list of participants and visitors plus those interested in the subject. 47 people were listed.[17][13]

Solomonoff, however, made a list of participants in his notes of the summer project:[18]

  1. Ray Solomonoff
  2. Marvin Minsky
  3. John McCarthy
  4. Claude Shannon
  5. Trenchard More
  6. Nat Rochester
  7. Oliver Selfridge
  8. Julian Bigelow
  9. W. Ross Ashby
  10. W.S. McCulloch
  11. Abraham Robinson
  12. Tom Etter
  13. John Nash
  14. David Sayre
  15. Arthur Samuel
  16. Kenneth R. Shoulders
  17. Shoulders' friend
  18. Alex Bernstein
  19. Herbert Simon
  20. Allen Newell

Shannon attended Solomonoff's talk on July 10 and Bigelow gave a talk on August 15. Solomonoff doesn't mention Bernard Widrow, but in 1994 Widrow said that he and an unidentified colleague from the same lab in MIT had attended for one week. In the same interview Widrow recalled that "I think [Wesley] Clark and [Belmont] Farley were there from Lincoln Lab."[19] Trenchard mentions R. Culver and Solomonoff mentions Bill Shutz. Herb Gelernter didn't attend, but was influenced later by what Rochester learned.[20]

In an article in IEEE Spectrum, Grace Solomonoff additionally identifies Peter Milner in a photo taken by Nathaniel Rochester in front of Dartmouth Hall.[21]

Ray Solomonoff, Marvin Minsky, and John McCarthy were the only three who stayed for the full time. Trenchard took attendance during two weeks of his three-week visit. From three to about eight people would attend the daily sessions.[22]

Event and aftermath

They had the entire top floor of the Dartmouth Math Department to themselves, and most weekdays they would meet at the main math classroom where someone might lead a discussion focusing on his ideas, or more frequently, a general discussion would be held.

It was not a directed group research project; discussions covered many topics, but several directions are considered to have been initiated or encouraged by the Workshop: the rise of symbolic methods, systems focused on limited domains (early expert systems), and deductive systems versus inductive systems. One participant, Arthur Samuel, said, "It was very interesting, very stimulating, very exciting".[9]

Ray Solomonoff kept notes giving his impression of the talks and the ideas from various discussions.[23]

McCarthy's 1956 AI distribution list

This is the list in the "People Interested in the Artificial Intelligence Problem" document which McCarthy produced in 1956[17][13], partly in lieu of a list of attendees at the Dartmouth workshop. According to McCarthy the list was "being sent to the people on the list and a few others", and its purpose was "to let those on it know who is interested in receiving documents on the problem" of artificial intelligence. McCarthy also promised to deliver them a report on the Dartmouth conference, and to send an updated list soon afterwards. It includes people who did not attend the conference and does not include everyone who did attend it.


Entries in the distribution list
Original list Further information
Name as listed Address as listed Description (not from original) Attended workshop? Other
Adelson, Marvin Hughes Aircraft Co. Intl. Airport Station, L.A. 45, Calif.
Ashby, W.R. Barnwood House, Gloucester, England Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Backus, John IBM Corporation, 590 Madison Ave., New York 22, New York.
Bernstein, Alex IBM Corporation, 590 Madison Ave, New York 22, New York Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Bigelow, J.H. Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, N.J. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Elias, Peter R. L. E., MIT, Cambridge 39, Mass.
Duda, W. L. IBM, Research Lab., Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Davies, Paul M. 1317 C 18th St., Los Angeles, Calif.
Fano, R.M. R.L.E., M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass.
Farley, B.G. 324 Park Ave., Arlington, Mass. Possibly (in 1994 Widrow recalled that "I think [Wesley] Clark and Farley were there")[19]
Galanter, E.H. University of Penna., Philadelphia, Pa.
Gelernter, Herbert IBM Research Lab., Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Glashow, Harvey A. 1102 Olivia St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Goertzal, Herbert 330 W 11th St., N.Y.
Hagelbarger, D. Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill,N.J.
Miller, George A. Memorial Hall, Harvard Univ., Cambridge 38, Mass.
Harmon, Leon D. Bell Tel. Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J.
Holland, John H. E.R.I., University of Mich., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Holt, Anatol 7358 Rural Lane, Phila., Pa.
Kautz, William H. Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif.
Luce, R.D. 427 W. 117th St., New York 27, N.Y.
MacKay, Donald Department of Physics, Univ. of London, London, W.C. 2, England.
McCarthy, John Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
McCulloch, Warren S. R.L.E., M.I.T., Cambridge, 39, Mass. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Melzak, Z.A. Mathematics Dept., University of Mich., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Minsky, M.L. 112 Newbury St, Boston, Mass. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
More, Trenchard Dept. of Elect. Eng., M.I.T., Cambridge, 39, Mass. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Nash, John Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, N.J. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Newell, Allen Department of Indust. Admin., Carnegie Institute of Techn., Pittsburgh, Pa. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Robinson, Abraham Dept. of Math., Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Rochester, Nathaniel Eng. Res. Lab., IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Rogers, Hartley, Jr. Department of Mathematics
MIT
Cambridge, MA.
Rosenblith, Walter R.L.E., M.I.T., Cambridge 39, Mass.
Rothstein, Jerome 21 East Bergen Place, Red Bank, N.J.
Sayre, David IBM Corp., 590 Madison Ave., New York 22, N.Y. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Schorr-Kon, J.J. C-380 Lincoln Laboratory, M.I.T., Lexington, Mass.
Shapley, L. Rand Corp., 1700 Main St., Santa Monica, California
Schutzenberger, M.P. R.L.E., M.I.T., Cambridge 39, Mass.
Selfridge, O.G. Lincoln Lab., M.I.T., Lexington, Mass. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Shannon, C.E. R.L.E., M.I.T., Cambridge 39, Mass. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Shapiro, Norman RAND Corp., 1700 Main St., Santa Monica, California
Simon, Herbert A. Dept. of Indust. Admin., Carnegie Tech. Pittsburgh, Pa. Yes (on Solomonoff's list of attendees)[18]
Solomonoff, Raymond J. Technical Research Group, 17 Union Square West, New York, N.Y. Yes (on his own list of attendees)[18]
Webster, Frederick 62 Coolidge Ave., Cambridge 38, Mass.
Moore, E.F. Bell Tel. Lab. Murray Hill, N.J.
Kemeny, John G. Dartmouth College
Hanover, N.H.
Steele, J.E., Capt. USAF(MC) WADC, Area B., Box 8698, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

See also

References

  1. ↑ Solomonoff, R.J. "The Time Scale of Artificial Intelligence; Reflections on Social Effects", Human Systems Management, Vol 5, pp. 149–153, 1985
  2. ↑ Moor, J., "The Dartmouth College Artificial Intelligence Conference: The Next Fifty years", AI Magazine, Vol 27, No. 4, pp. 87–89, 2006
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kline, Ronald R., "Cybernetics, Automata Studies and the Dartmouth Conference on Artificial Intelligence", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, October–December, 2011, IEEE Computer Society
  4. ↑ Solomonoff, Grace (2023-05-06). "The Meeting of the Minds That Launched AI" (in en). https://spectrum.ieee.org/dartmouth-ai-workshop. 
  5. ↑ Frana, Philip L., ed (2021) (in en). Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence: The Past, Present, and Future of AI. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. pp. 105. ISBN 978-1-4408-5326-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=sN7EEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105. 
  6. ↑ Marquis, Pierre, ed (2020) (in en). A Guided Tour of Artificial Intelligence Research: Volume III: Interfaces and Applications of Artificial Intelligence. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. xiii. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-06170-8. ISBN 978-3-030-06169-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=z07iDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR13. 
  7. ↑ Nayak, Bhabani Shankar; Walton, Nigel (2024) (in en). Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence: Critical Reflections on Big Data Market, Economic Development and Data Society. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 3. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-62308-0. ISBN 978-3-031-62307-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=XVEREQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3. 
  8. ↑ Carpenter, Brian E. (2018). "A Meeting that Missed its Mark: the Paris Conference of 1951". The Rutherford Journal 5. https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~brian/rutherford8.html. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 McCorduck, Patricia, Machines Who Think, A.K. Peters, Ltd, 2nd ed., 2004 ISBN 9781040083109 [page needed]
  10. ↑ Nilsson, Nils (2009). The Quest for Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 78. ISBN 9780521116398. 
  11. ↑ Kline, Ronald R., "Cybernetics, Automata Studies and the Dartmouth Conference on Artificial Intelligence", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, October–December, 2011, IEEE Computer Society, (citing letters, from Rockefeller Foundation Archives, Dartmouth file 6, 17, 1955 etc.
  12. ↑ McCarthy, J.; Minsky, M.L.; Rochester, N.; Shannon, C.E. (31 August 1955), A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, http://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/boxa/dart564props.pdf, retrieved 2026-05-25 . This copy has handwritten notes (by Solomonoff?), mostly marginal commentary
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 McCarthy, J.; Minsky, M.L.; Rochester, N.; Shannon, C.E. (31 August 1955), A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, http://jmc.stanford.edu/articles/dartmouth/dartmouth.pdf, retrieved 2026-05-22  This is a reset version of the 1955 proposal document. McCarthy's September 1956(?) list of attendees and others interested in AI has been added (with some copyediting changes) at the end
  14. ↑ Nilsson, Nils (2009). The Quest for Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 53. ISBN 9780521116398. 
  15. ↑ Solomonoff, R.J., "Talk", 1956 URL
  16. ↑ Papers
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 McCarthy, John (September 1956). "People Interested in the Artificial Intelligence Problem". https://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/misc/mccarthylist.pdf. 
  18. ↑ 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 18.10 18.11 18.12 18.13 18.14 18.15 18.16 http://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/boxbdart/dart56ray812825who.pdf 1956
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Bernard Widrow". Talking Nets : An Oral History of Neural Networks. pp. 44-69. doi:10.7551/mitpress/6626.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-262-26715-1. https://archive.org/details/talkingnetsoralh00ande/page/48. Retrieved 25 May 2026. "A friend of mine was doing work at our lab at MIT. There was a seminar going on at Dartmouth College that somehow he had found out about. The subject, he told me, was called artificial intelligence.¶I said to him, "What's that"? So he explained to me a bit about artificial intelligence, and so we went to Dartmouth College. We just got in his car, and we took off and drove to Hanover, New Hampshire. We decided we were going to spend some time there. We didn't know how much time. We spent a week, listening to what people were saying. It seems to me Minsky was there, and McCarthy was there, and a man from IBM named Rochester was there. He was doing some very early work on neural nets. I think Clark and Farley were there from Lincoln Lab." 
  20. ↑ Nilsson, Nils (2009). The Quest for Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 118. ISBN 9780521116398. 
  21. ↑ Solomonoff, Grace (2023). "The Meeting of the Minds That Launched AI". IEEE Spectrum (5). https://spectrum.ieee.org/dartmouth-ai-workshop. 
  22. ↑ More, Trenchard, 1956, http://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/boxa/dart56more5th6thweeks.pdf
  23. ↑ "Dartmouth AI Archives". http://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/. 
  1. 50 Años De La Inteligencia Artificial – Campus Multidisciplinar en Percepción e Inteligencia – Albacete 2006 (Spain).

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