Within the tech industry, Artificial Intelligence (AI) development has skyrocketed over the past decade. The creation of products like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa in particular have contributed to the evolution of AI technology.

In terms of creating AI products, they must start from the ground up like every other piece of technology. One of the foundations those products are built from are programming languages.

Let’s look at some of the most popular programming languages for AI development:

1. Python

At the top of the tech industry’s most used programming languages list is Python. It’s extremely versatile like Java and nearly as widely used. The implementation of a simplified syntax compared to Java is one of its top benefits. This also plays into decreasing development time—a preference in the fast evolution of technology. It has easy integration capabilities, numerous libraries, and is object-oriented as well.

2. Prolog

Programming in Logic, or Prolog for short, requires rules, facts, and an imagined result of the product. It uses those to establish a connection between the three while incorporating AI technology to create a solution. Prolog also has a high proficiency in data structuring and backtracking.

3. Lisp

One of the oldest programming languages around, Lisp has helped provide the foundation for basic AI capabilities. It still holds a high reputation like Java and is extremely useful when finding logical solutions. Additionally, it does pride itself on how precise its language is.

4. C++

A high processing speed is one of C++’s best features. While its syntax is more complex and difficult to learn, it’s also very cost-efficient with a large community of open-sourced libraries.

5. Java

Java is the most used programming language in the world. It has its own machine called the JVM, or Java Virtual Machine, that helps decrease compiling time. This is because code through the JVM can be implemented across platforms thanks to Java’s system. On the other hand, the processing speed for AI development is typically a little slower than other languages on this list.

6. Julia

Julia works best with numerical values through its dynamically-typed system. It contains a package manager, multi-dispatch support, and compatibility with C features and functions as well. This language isn’t used as much as many of the others, which means there’s a smaller community of developers behind it, but it’s still a good language for AI development.

7. R

With an advantage in statistical processing, R is very proficient in AI development. It has extra packages such as Gmodels, Tm, OneR that are great for machine learning projects. R can help AI developers solve complex problems, which makes it a highly preferred language for AI-focused companies.

8. JavaScript

Considered more versatile than Java, JavaScript is very adaptable to various development projects. This programming language shares Java’s stability, though it isn’t quite as popular. It’s easy to use, very efficient for complex systems and can handle continuous updates to the application in addition to having a large community of supportive developers.