MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)

What it is

MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is the largest laboratory on the MIT campus, with more than 600 people ^[2]. It was created on 1 July 2003, the 40th anniversary of Project MAC, by merging the MIT AI Lab with the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) ^[2].

Two roots

MIT's artificial intelligence research took shape around the arrival of two researchers. In 1958 John McCarthy set up the first A.I. research project at MIT ^[4], and Marvin Minsky joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ^[3]. In 1959 MIT established the AI Project, and the institute credits Minsky and McCarthy with co-founding the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory that later became CSAIL ^[1][3].

McCarthy left MIT for Stanford in 1962 ^[4]. On 1 July 1963 Project MAC was launched with a $2 million ARPA grant, and its AI Group — directed by Minsky and including McCarthy, the inventor of Lisp — was incorporated into it ^[1][2].

The two halves then separated. In 1970 Minsky split off from Project MAC to form the MIT AI Lab ^[2]; the rest of Project MAC was renamed the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) in 1976 ^[2]. Accounts of the lab's starting point therefore differ: MIT traces the AI Project to 1959, while the split that produced the standalone AI Lab came in 1970 ^[1][2].

What the lab built

The AI Lab developed the Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) and invented Lisp machines ^[2]. A time-sharing system lets many people work on one computer at the same time, each with the impression of a machine of their own; a Lisp machine put the Lisp language directly onto dedicated hardware. Joseph Weizenbaum, the creator of the chatbot ELIZA, is among the people associated with the lab ^[2].

The merger and the building

On 1 July 2003, the 40th anniversary of Project MAC, LCS merged with the AI Lab to form CSAIL, the largest laboratory on the MIT campus, with over 600 people ^[2]. The merger brought MIT's two computing traditions — one oriented toward artificial intelligence, one toward systems and theory — back under a single organization. Since 2004 CSAIL has been housed in the Ray and Maria Stata Center (Building 32); from 1963 to 2004 the groups had offices at 545 Technology Square ^[2].

Directors and alumni

Rodney Brooks directed the AI Lab from 1997 to 2003 and CSAIL from 2003 to 2007; Daniela Rus has been director since 2012 ^[2]. Alumni include iRobot co-founders Colin Angle and Helen Greiner, who built the company with Brooks, and Marc Raibert, who founded Boston Dynamics ^[2].