Artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a field of study in the mid-20th century, with early developments dating back to the 1950s. The term itself was coined in 1956 during a conference at Dartmouth College. However, significant progress in AI research and application began in the 1980s, marked by advances in machine learning, expert systems, and neural networks. This period saw the development of foundational algorithms and technologies that laid the groundwork for modern AI systems.