McCorduck was born on October 27, 1940, in Liverpool, United Kingdom, to Hilda (née Bond) and William J.

[1] McCorduck started out supporting professors Edward Feigenbaum, who would later go on to be known as the father of expert systems, and Julian Feldman, at UC Berkeley in their book on artificial intelligence, entitled Computers & Thought (1963).

[1] She continued to interact with the scientists and researchers, including Raj Reddy and Allen Newell, many of whom she interviewed.

During this time, she wrote Machines Who Think: A Personal Inquiry Into the History and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence (1979), which was funded by the university.

She continued to write on artificial intelligence and related topics, including books such as The Universal Machine (1985), The Rise of the Expert Company (1988), and Aaron's Code (1990).

[2] She was a contributor to Omni, The New York Times, Daedalus, Michigan Quarterly Review and was a contributing editor of Wired.

[2] McCorduck married Joseph F. Traub, a professor at Stanford University in 1969, after her first marriage to Thomas Tellefsen ended in a divorce.

[1] She was survived by her sister, Mrs. Sandra Marona, and her brother, John McCorduck, as well as three nephews, four nieces and two step-daughters.