Alan Turing was a pioneering computer scientist who made fundamental contributions to artificial intelligence and the field of computer science. He defined the concept of an algorithm and developed the Turing machine, laying the foundations for the digital computer. During World War II, Turing worked at Britain's codebreaking center and cracked the German Enigma cipher, helping the Allies win the war. However, as a gay man in 1950s Britain, Turing was prosecuted for his homosexuality and chemically castrated, which led to his tragic death two years later at the young age of 41. Though he faced great adversity, Turing's revolutionary ideas transformed technology and shaped the modern world.