Marvin Minsky

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Marvin Minsky (August 9, 1927 – January 24, 2016) was an American cognitive scientist and a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). He was a co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and the AI Laboratory.

Early Life and Education

Minsky was born in New York City. He attended the Fieldston School and the Bronx High School of Science. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. Minsky earned a B.A. in mathematics from Harvard University in 1950 and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1954.

Career and Contributions

In 1959, Minsky co-founded the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with John McCarthy. He made significant contributions to the fields of robotics and computer science, including the development of the first neural network simulator, the SNARC.

Minsky's work on frames, a data structure for representing stereotyped situations, was influential in the development of knowledge representation in AI. He also contributed to the development of symbolic artificial intelligence and connectionism.

Publications

Minsky authored several important texts in the field of AI, including:

• Perceptrons (1969), co-authored with Seymour Papert, which analyzed the capabilities and limitations of artificial neural networks.
• The Society of Mind (1986), which proposed that intelligence emerges from the interactions of non-intelligent agents.
• The Emotion Machine (2006), which explored the role of emotions in human and artificial intelligence.

Awards and Honors

Minsky received numerous awards for his contributions to AI, including the Turing Award in 1969, the Japan Prize in 1990, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2001.

Personal Life

Minsky was married to Gloria Rudisch, a pediatrician, and they had three children. He was known for his eclectic interests, including music, optics, and mathematics.

Legacy

Marvin Minsky's work laid the foundation for many areas of AI research and development. His ideas continue to influence contemporary AI and cognitive science.

See Also

• Artificial intelligence
• MIT Media Lab
• John McCarthy (computer scientist)
• Neural network
• Knowledge representation
• Symbolic artificial intelligence
• Connectionism