John McCarthy (computer scientist)

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John McCarthy (September 4, 1927 – October 24, 2011) was an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist. He is widely recognized as one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence (AI). McCarthy coined the term "artificial intelligence" in 1955 and organized the famous Dartmouth Conference in 1956, which is considered the founding event of AI as a field.

Early Life and Education

John McCarthy was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He showed an early aptitude for mathematics and science, which led him to enroll at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He later transferred to Princeton University, where he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1951.

Career and Contributions

McCarthy's career spanned several decades, during which he made significant contributions to the development of AI and computer science. He worked at several prestigious institutions, including Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Dartmouth College.

Lisp Programming Language

One of McCarthy's most notable contributions was the development of the Lisp programming language in 1958. Lisp became the standard programming language for AI research due to its excellent support for symbolic reasoning and its powerful features for manipulating data structures.

Time-Sharing Systems

McCarthy was also a pioneer in the development of time-sharing systems, which allowed multiple users to share the resources of a single computer. This innovation was crucial for the development of interactive computing and laid the groundwork for modern operating systems.

Artificial Intelligence Research

Throughout his career, McCarthy made numerous contributions to AI research. He developed the concept of situational calculus, a formalism for representing and reasoning about change in dynamic systems. He also worked on the development of non-monotonic logic, which allows for the representation of knowledge that can change over time.

Awards and Honors

John McCarthy received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to computer science and AI, including the Turing Award in 1971, the highest honor in computer science. He was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Legacy

John McCarthy's work laid the foundation for many of the advancements in AI and computer science that followed. His contributions continue to influence the field, and his legacy is remembered through various awards, conferences, and institutions named in his honor.

See Also

• Artificial intelligence
• Lisp (programming language)
• Time-sharing
• Situational calculus
• Non-monotonic logic
• Turing Award
• Stanford University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Dartmouth College