Computing · 1958
LISP
The language of symbols, lists and early AI.
John McCarthy designed LISP at MIT, introducing garbage collection, recursion as a norm and code written as data. It was the dominant AI language for decades and influenced nearly every modern language.
What it built on 2
What it led to 6
Related measurements
The dashed line marks when it first worked.
Training compute of notable AI models Source: Epoch AI, Notable AI Models (CC BY 4.0)
Computation per constant dollar, 1850-2006 Latest: 7.3B million units of computer power per 2006 $ (2003) Source: Nordhaus 2007, Two Centuries of Productivity Growth in Computing, J. Econ. Hist. 67(1), Table 6