In tech-industry circles, the ebb and flow of the attention paid to artificial intelligence (AI) has been likened to the seasons. Every now and then, a milestone product heralds an AI spring, setting in motion a flurry of reportage, analyses, conference sessions, start-ups, and funding. This first happened in 2018, when a company acquired by Google, DeepMind, invented AI models that outperformed humans in board games. Then came a winter. The hype abated, as did the launches, and funding dried up. Until 2021, when AI image generators (such as Dall-e) were launched, giving people the ability to co-create digital art using text prompts. Then came the winter of 2022, which turned overnight into a glorious summer for AI, with the launch of ChatGPT.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around since the 1950s, but its recent boom has caused an exciting wave of interest, as it becomes more accessible to the public with increasing roles in man’s daily activities. Created at a Dartmouth Conference of 1956, AI started as a field study by scientists. It was a research project in the U.S., where a group of researchers first coined the term “artificial intelligence”. The conference set out to examine some main themes in fields of research during the period, including neural networks, the theory of computability, creativity, and natural language processing and recognition. The researchers envisioned creating machines that could simulate human intelligence.
The fluctuating attention and enthusiasm for AI over the decades reflect the ongoing cycle of hype and innovation that characterizes the technology industry. From its early inception at the Dartmouth Conference in the 1950s, to the groundbreaking developments at Google’s DeepMind and the recent emergence of AI image generators and language models, the overarching narrative of AI’s trajectory is one of expectations, excitement, lulls, and sudden breakthroughs.
Despite these cyclical patterns, the consistent advancement of AI technologies continues to impact various aspects of daily life, from customer service chatbots to personalized recommendation systems. As the cycle of excitement and disillusionment with AI continues, it is evident that the technology’s potential for innovation and disruption remains a driving force in the ever-changing landscape of the technology industry.
