Not many people can answer the question: how did AI come about?
Ever wonder how we went from clunky old computers to chatbots that can write poetry? Let's take a quick stroll through the history of AI — no tech degree required.
The main players
It all started in the 1950s. A brilliant guy named Alan Turing basically asked: "Can machines think?" He came up with a clever test to find out.
Meanwhile, a group of researchers in the US got together at the now-famous Dartmouth Conference, coined the term "Artificial Intelligence," and started tinkering with programs that could do things like play chess. Pretty basic stuff, but hey — you have to start somewhere.
Was it all sunshine and roses from the start?
Then came the rough patch. Turns out, early computers just weren't powerful enough to keep up with all those big ideas. Funding dried up, excitement fizzled, and AI went through some serious quiet spells (researchers call them "AI winters" — dramatic, right?).
But behind the scenes, people kept at it. Fast forward to the 90s and 2000s. Computers got faster, data got bigger, and suddenly AI started to actually work.
The big breakthrough? Instead of telling computers exactly what to do, researchers figured out how to let them learn from patterns in data. Game changer.
Big strides in the 2010s
The 2010s is when things really took off. Big tech companies poured money into AI research, and new organizations popped up with the goal of making AI safer and more accessible.
The results:
1. Facial recognition. Systems that could recognize your face in photos.
2. Speech to text. Systems that could convert voice recordings and messages to text.
3. Creating text. Systems that can create written content that sounds surprisingly human.
How widely used is AI now
AI is basically everywhere now. Here are some everyday examples:
1. Movies, YouTube and Music. AI models (not like real models on a runway — more on that later) study what you watch, read and listen to, analyse that data and recommend movies, Instagram or YouTube posts and music to you.
2. Help with writing emails. AI models assist people in drafting better emails.
3. Your credit score. AI analyses how much money you have, owe, invest and spend, then decides whether you are likely to repay a mortgage or loan.
The ostrich principle does not work any more — it's everywhere and it's powerful
Years ago AI was only for the IT techie nerds who used really technical jargon and wrote long pieces of programming code.
LLMs (watch me explain it to you in further blog posts) have kicked open the doors for anyone to use AI as more than just a chatbot. Yes, you — the parent, the professional, the curious beginner — can use AI in a powerful way.
Get your posture right towards AI: Anyone can master it. You just have to start.
Where to go from here
If this sparked more questions, that's a good sign — it means you're thinking carefully about a tool that's going to be part of your working life for a long time.
Our course covers AI basics in exactly this way: honest, practical, and designed for people who want to use AI well rather than just use it blindly. Get the free course overview to see if it's a good fit.