December 1943
McCulloch and Pitts model artificial neurons
Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts published their 1943 paper modeling neurons as logic gates — the mathematical foundation of artificial neural networkA model of connected layers that learns from examples — the core of modern deep learning.s.
What it was for
Their McCulloch–Pitts neuron sums weighted inputs and fires above a threshold, implementing AND, OR, and NOT. Modern deep learningNeural networks with many layers that learn hierarchical representations from data. stacks billions of descendants of this 1943 abstraction, even though biological neurons are far messier.
People
- Warren McCulloch — researcher
- Walter Pitts — researcher
Why it's here
This paper is the origin story of neural networkA model of connected layers that learns from examples — the core of modern deep learning.s and computational neuroscience.
Why it mattered
It showed brains and circuits could be described with the same Boolean logic Shannon applied to hardware.
What it solved
There was no rigorous model connecting nervous-system activity to computable logic.
Media
ImageMcCulloch–Pitts neuron modelMcCulloch, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Marvin Minsky co-organizes Dartmouth AI workshopAugust 1956
- Claude Shannon publishes information theoryOctober 1948