The Entire History of Artificial Intelligence (Last 100 Years)

Early AI Foundations

• 💡 Alan Turing laid the groundwork for modern computing during WWII by envisioning the first computer to break the Enigma code, fundamentally questioning the limits of artificial and human intelligence with the Turing Test.
• 🧠 Early computers relied on inefficient vacuum tubes, prompting scientists to seek a more efficient power source.
• 🔬 Bill Shockley invented the transistor in 1947, a semiconductor device that could act as an electrical switch, drastically shrinking computing power.
• 🚀 Marvin Minsky built the world's first working neural net using vacuum tubes, establishing the bedrock for artificial intelligence.

Semiconductor Revolution

• 🏭 Shockley Semiconductor, founded by Bill Shockley, led to the creation of Fairchild Semiconductor by the "Traitorous Eight," which focused on manufacturing transistors at scale.
• ✅ Jean Hoerni invented the planar process, a more efficient manufacturing method for transistors that increased stability and durability.
• 🌐 Bob Noyce created the integrated circuit, allowing transistors to operate together in unison, which spurred the creation of companies like AMD and Intel (known as "Fairchildren").
• 💻 Intel's microprocessor (the 4004) made computers small and affordable enough for personal use, leading to the rise of companies like Microsoft and Apple.

AI Breakthroughs & Algorithms

• 💬 In 1966, Joseph Weizenbaum built Eliza, the world's first chatbot, which simulated conversation using pattern matching and gave users the illusion of understanding.
• 📈 Geoffrey Hinton developed backpropagation in 1986, a machine learning algorithm that teaches computers to learn from mistakes and became a cornerstone for neural networks.
• ♟️ IBM's Deep Blue defeated the world's best chess player in 1997, demonstrating that combining large data volumes, strong algorithms, and compute power could create super-intelligent systems.

Deep Learning & GPU Power

• 📊 The information age and the rise of internet companies generated vast amounts of data, renewing interest in neural networks.
• 🖼️ In 2006, Geoffrey Hinton created the convolutional neural network (CNN), enabling computers to recognize patterns and images, becoming crucial for tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Apple.
• 🏆 The ImageNet competition in 2007, launched by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, spurred the development of advanced algorithms, leading to AlexNet (a CNN model by Hinton and his students) in 2012, known as the "big bang of AI."
• ⚡ Nvidia's GPUs were the secret behind AlexNet's success, leading CEO Jensen Huang to pivot the company to focus on building powerful microchips for AI, making Nvidia a dominant force in the industry.

The Generative AI Era

• 🤖 Google's DeepMind developed AlphaGo and AlphaZero, AI programs that mastered Go and chess, further validating their AI capabilities.
• 📚 Google also developed the Transformer AI model in 2017, a powerful tool for processing text data, which inspired the creation of advanced chatbots.
• 🤝 OpenAI was founded to safely build AGI, eventually securing a $10 billion investment from Microsoft, leading to the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
• ✨ ChatGPT rapidly gained 100 million users, and other companies like Eleven Labs, MidJourney, and Stability AI launched groundbreaking generative AI tools for audio and images, ushering in the current age of AI.