AI for Humanity

CHAPTER 3AI History

Success in creating effective AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know.

— Stephen Hawking

Figure 3.1 VUCA history.

AI VUCA'S HISTORY: BEYOND HYPE AND MISDIRECTION

An AI Scientist's Epiphany

The year was 1993. James Ong, a freshly minted PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, was at a crossroads. The corridors of tech companies echoed with whispers of AI's demise. The path he had chosen, the dream he had passionately pursued for over a decade, seemed to have reached a dead end.

AI had become a dirty word associated with overhyped promises and unfulfilled dreams. Companies shied away from the term, and researchers distanced themselves from its damaged reputation. James, a co-author of this book, faced a painful reality: to continue in the tech world, he had to erase AI from his identity. He meticulously removed every mention of AI from his resume, burying a decade of hard work and dedication.

This bleak period, known as the second AI winter (1993–2013),¹ was one of dwindling funds, shuttered AI companies, and widespread disillusionment.² The fall of the Thinking Machines Corporation in 1994 epitomized the end of an era.³ Founded to build the world's first machine that could think like a human, the company once shined bright as the beacon of AI's future. Its collapse signaled a seemingly ...