The history of artificial intelligence in education – the first quarter century
Gordon McCalla
Abstract
This chapter overviews the first 25 years of “artificial intelligence in education” (AIED) research. The period is divided into two eras: the first from 1970 to 1982 and the second from 1982 until roughly the mid-1990s. The first era can be characterized by diversity, with pioneering explorations of all sorts into advanced learning technology by researchers from a variety of backgrounds in computer science and social science. The second era can be considered to be an era of consolidation, an exciting time as AIED researchers, still drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, came together as a community with emerging shared paradigms, the development of sub-disciplines, and the creation of an international AIED society, journal, and conference. By the mid-1990s this second era of consolidation was fading as AIED researchers began to fragment into a diaspora of different subcommunities, a trend that has continued to this day. Nevertheless, the shared vision of the first quarter-century among all of these sub-communities provides some general lessons for researchers today.