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Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline

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This dataset contains important AI breakthroughs that have been used for visualising the AI history as a timeline on the AI Watch portal (see the "Other resources" section below).

We have classified the breakthroughs according to the domains identified in the technical report "Defining Artificial Intelligence" (see the publications section).

Our selection has been inspired by sources available online (see the relevant list in the "Other resources" section).

We invite the public to download this dataset, use it and share with us any idea for improvement using the "Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline - Feedback" survey available in the "Other resources" section.

Contributors

Alessandro Dalla Benetta; Blagoj Delipetrev; Chrisa Tsinaraki; Emilia Gomez Gutierrez; Fernando Martinez Plumed

How to cite

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (2026): Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline. [Dataset] doi: 10.2905/JRC.BT8MKGR PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/76625e38-36a1-417f-b28f-b3380376643e

Keywords

AIArtificial IntelligenceHistory

Data access

Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline - version 1.0
CSV

CSV – comma-separated values – files store tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text. Each line of the file is a data record. Each record consists of one or more fields, separated by commas.
Downloadable file

A downloadable file for the dataset.

Use conditions
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

CC BY 4.0 lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the author’s work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline in csv format

Other resources

AI History Timeline @ AI Watch portal
HTML

HTML is the standard markup language used to create web pages and its elements form the building blocks of all websites.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • Visualisation of the AI history as a timeline of selected AI breakthroughs, published on the AI Watch portal.

Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline - Feedback
HTML

HTML is the standard markup language used to create web pages and its elements form the building blocks of all websites.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • Feedback provision to the "Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline" dataset

Sources for the Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline
CSV

CSV – comma-separated values – files store tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text. Each line of the file is a data record. Each record consists of one or more fields, separated by commas.

Use conditions
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

CC BY 4.0 lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the author’s work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • Sources that inspired the Selected AI Breakthroughs for the AI Watch Timeline dataset

Publications

Publication
Historical Evolution of Artificial Intelligence
Publication
AI WATCH. Defining Artificial Intelligence
Samoili, S., Lopez Cobo, M., Gomez Gutierrez, E., De Prato, G., Martinez-Plumed, F. and Delipetrev, B., AI WATCH. Defining Artificial Intelligence, EUR 30117 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2020, ISBN 978-92-76-17045-7 (online), doi:10.2760/382730 (online), JRC118163.
Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
DOI badgeISBN badgeISSN badge

  • This report proposes an operational definition of artificial intelligence to be adopted in the context of AI Watch, the Commission knowledge service to monitor the development, uptake and impact of artificial intelligence for Europe. The definition, which will be used as a basis for the AI Watch monitoring activity, is established by means of a flexible scientific methodology that allows regular revision. The operational definition is constituted by a concise taxonomy and a list of keywords that characterise the core domains of the AI research field, and transversal topics such as applications of the former or ethical and philosophical considerations, in line with the wider monitoring objective of AI Watch. The AI taxonomy is designed to inform the AI landscape analysis and will expectedly detect AI applications in neighbour technological domains such as robotics (in a broader sense), neuroscience or internet of things. The starting point to develop the operational definition is the definition of AI adopted by the High Level Expert Group on artificial intelligence.

    To derive this operational definition we have followed a mixed methodology. On one hand, we apply natural language processing methods to a large set of AI literature. On the other hand, we carry out a qualitative analysis on 55 key documents including artificial intelligence definitions from three complementary perspectives: policy, research and industry. A valuable contribution of this work is the collection of definitions developed between 1955 and 2019, and the summarisation of the main features of the concept of artificial intelligence as reflected in the relevant literature.

Additional information

Published by
European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Contact email
EC-AI-WATCH (at) ec.europa.eu
Update frequency
irregular

The event occurs at uneven intervals.

Language(s)
English

English is a member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. It is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states and is now a global lingua franca.It is the third-most-common native language in the world and it is widely learned as a second language.

Data theme(s)
Science and technology

dataset theme covering the domains of science and technology, with science being the systematic pursuit of knowledge through testable explanations and predictions across natural, social, and formal disciplines, and technology encompassing the collective techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in producing goods, providing services, or achieving objectives like scientific research

Issued date
2020-03-26
Created date
26 Mar 2020 08:38
Modified date
26 Mar 2021 16:34
Dataset identifier
http://data.europa.eu/89h/76625e38-36a1-417f-b28f-b3380376643e
Other identifiers
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