In this chapter, we argue that it is highly beneficial for the contemporary construction grammarian to have a thorough understanding of the strong relationship between the research fields of Construction Grammar and artificial intelligence. We start by unraveling the historical links between the two fields, showing that their relationship is rooted in a common attitude towards human communication and language. We then discuss the first direction of influence, focusing on how insights and techniques from the field of artificial intelligence play an important role in operationalizing, validating, and scaling constructionist approaches to language. We then proceed to the second direction of influence, highlighting the relevance of Construction Grammar insights and analyses to the artificial intelligence endeavor of building truly intelligent agents. We support our case with a variety of illustrative examples and conclude that further elaboration of this relationship will play a key role in shaping the future of the field of Construction Grammar.

All Construction Grammar approaches consider constructions to be the central units of language. On top of that, virtually all approaches subscribe to Goldberg’s (2013) four tenets of (i) the lexicon–syntax continuum, (ii) the taxonomic network of organization of the constructicon, (iii) surface structure-orientation and (iv) cross-linguistic variability and generalization. Nevertheless, the various Construction Grammar approaches also differ on a couple of crucial points that result in a wide range of representational formats. In this chapter, I will outline the major differences between non-usage-based (such as Berkley Construction Grammar and Sign-Based Construction Grammar) and usage-based approaches (Parallel Architecture, Cognitive Construction Grammar, Embodied Construction Grammar, Fluid Construction Grammar and Radical Construction Grammar). Finally, the chapter will also address the question as to how the meaning pole of constructions is analysed in the various approaches – which ranges from semantic paraphrases (Cognitive Construction Grammar) over first-order predicate logic (Fluid Construction Grammar) to Frame-based approaches (Sign-based Construction Grammar).