The AI Boom: Not the First, Not Sudden — A Historical Perspective
The current AI explosion may seem like a sudden phenomenon, but it is neither the first nor an isolated event. To understand today’s AI boom, we must examine the cyclical nature of artificial intelligence, marked by periods of rapid advancement (“AI Spring”) followed by stagnation and disillusionment (“AI Winter”).
AI Spring & Winter Timeline: Key Peaks and Troughs in AI Development
🌱 1950s–1960s: The First AI Spring — Birth of a New Field
1950: Alan Turing publishes “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” introducing the Turing Test, a foundational concept for AI.
1956: The Dartmouth Conference officially establishes AI as a research field, sparking early optimism.
1960s: Breakthroughs like ELIZA (1966) (the first chatbot) and SHRDLU (1970) (a natural language understanding program) demonstrate AI’s potential.
Winter Trigger: Overpromising results and limited computing power lead to unmet expectations, causing skepticism.