TY - JOUR
T1 - History of Artificial Intelligence in Europe
T2 - the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence (ACIA)
AU - Agell, Nuria
AU - Costa, Vicent
AU - Falomir, Zoe
AU - Gibert, Karina
AU - Lopez, Beatriz
AU - Museros, Lledo
AU - Plaza, Enric
AU - Valls, Aida
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/open-access-at-sage).
PY - 2026/8
Y1 - 2026/8
N2 - The creation of the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence (ACIA) was driven not only by practical and scientific objectives, but also by a powerful symbolic vision. It showcases the potential of Catalan society to produce innovative ideas and add value on a global scale. This paper illustrates the pivotal role of the ACIA in the development and consolidation of artificial intelligence (AI) research in Catalonia and across Europe. Founded in 1994, ACIA emerged from the need to create a cohesive AI research community in Catalan-speaking territories and to promote AI literacy. Over the past three decades, ACIA has made significant contributions to AI research through initiatives detailed in this paper, such as the International Conference on AI (CCIA), the magazine NODES, the Marc Esteva Vivanco Award for the Best PhD thesis in AI, and the donesIAcat working group. By presenting these initiatives, analyzing the evolution of AI research topics in Catalonia, and detailing ACIA's involvement in Europe-including its role within EurAI and its industrial and international impact-, this article highlights how local AI societies contribute to the advancement of AI in Europe while preserving their unique cultural and academic identities. Finally, the future evolution of AI in Europe is discussed.
AB - The creation of the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence (ACIA) was driven not only by practical and scientific objectives, but also by a powerful symbolic vision. It showcases the potential of Catalan society to produce innovative ideas and add value on a global scale. This paper illustrates the pivotal role of the ACIA in the development and consolidation of artificial intelligence (AI) research in Catalonia and across Europe. Founded in 1994, ACIA emerged from the need to create a cohesive AI research community in Catalan-speaking territories and to promote AI literacy. Over the past three decades, ACIA has made significant contributions to AI research through initiatives detailed in this paper, such as the International Conference on AI (CCIA), the magazine NODES, the Marc Esteva Vivanco Award for the Best PhD thesis in AI, and the donesIAcat working group. By presenting these initiatives, analyzing the evolution of AI research topics in Catalonia, and detailing ACIA's involvement in Europe-including its role within EurAI and its industrial and international impact-, this article highlights how local AI societies contribute to the advancement of AI in Europe while preserving their unique cultural and academic identities. Finally, the future evolution of AI in Europe is discussed.
KW - ACIA
KW - Artificial intelligence
KW - Catalan Countries
KW - Catalonia
KW - EurAI
KW - artificial intelligence literacy
KW - artificial intelligence research
KW - associations for artificial intelligence
KW - history of artificial intelligence
KW - origin of artificial intelligence
UR - https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=pure_univeritat_ramon_llull&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:001696801500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/6646
U2 - 10.1177/30504554261417570
DO - 10.1177/30504554261417570
M3 - Article
SN - 3050-4554
VL - 39
SP - 541
EP - 556
JO - European Journal on Artificial Intelligence
JF - European Journal on Artificial Intelligence
IS - 3
ER -