AI has gone through multiple boom-and-bust cycles...

Hello, my dear subscribers,

Today let’s dive into an interesting article I came across on ‘The Conversation.’.

The theme is about how early hopes for AI match today’s excitement—and doubts.

Historically, AI has risen and fallen since it’s start.

Now it is rising again. 2023 marks the rise of Gen AI

But many forget the past failures and why they happened.

Optimism pushes progress, but history still matters.

Frank Rosenblatt built the Perceptron back in 1958.

It was a learning machine. It sorted images into two groups.

Wires ran through it, linking parts together.

Today’s AI, like ChatGPT and DALL-E, is a software version of the Perceptron.

The Perceptron learned from its mistakes. When it got something wrong, it changed its connections to do better next time.

Modern AI works the same way.

Large language models predict words and images.

They create long text and match pictures to prompts. The more they interact, the better they get.

In this edition, let’s go through some key excerpts and explain useful words.

1. Intervening:

Meaning: Happening between two events or points in time.

Excerpt

"The problem is that, in the intervening decades, AI researchers have tended to over-promise and under-deliver."

Real-World Usage:

• "In the intervening years between the two elections, the economy improved."
• "Despite the intervening decades, the technology remains largely unchanged."

2. Boom-and-bust cycle

Meaning: A pattern of economic or technological growth followed by a sudden collapse.

Excerpt

"AI has gone through multiple boom-and-bust cycles, in which enthusiasm and investment surged before eventually waning."

Real-World Usage:

• "The real estate market follows a boom-and-bust cycle, with prices increasing before crashing.
• "Investments in cryptocurrencies frequently experience boom-bust cycles”

3. Proponents

Meaning: People who support or advocate a particular idea, policy, or cause.

Excerpt

"At the height of each boom, proponents of AI made bold claims about its potential."

Real-World Usage:

• "The proponents of remote work argue that it increases productivity and work-life balance."
• "Proponents of renewable energy believe it is the key to a sustainable future."

4. Underpin

Meaning: To support, justify, or form the foundation of something.

Excerpt

"Each boom has also been underpinned by a set of new ideas."

Real-World Usage:

• "Strong communication skills underpin successful leadership."
• "Economic policies should underpin long-term stability rather than short-term gains."

5. Ambiguities

Meaning: Situations, statements, or words that have more than one possible meaning, leading to confusion or uncertainty.

Excerpt

"One of the biggest problems was handling the ambiguities of human language."

Real-World Usage:

• "Legal contracts must be written clearly to avoid ambiguities."
• "The ambiguities in his speech left the audience unsure of his true intentions."

Here are a couple of key grammar points from the article

1. Complex Sentences with "Although"

Excerpt

"Although the field of artificial intelligence was still in its infancy, early pioneers made bold claims about its potential."

Grammar Point:

• "Although" introduces a contrast between two ideas.
• Structure: Although + clause, main clause
• Alternative: You can also place "although" in the middle (e.g., Early inventors made bold claims, although AI was still in its infancy.)

2. Passive Voice in Technology Writing

Excerpt

"It was claimed that computers would soon match human intelligence."

Grammar Point:

• The passive voice is often used in academic and business writing when the doer of the action is either unknown or not important.
• Structure: Be (was/were) + past participle
• Why use it? To sound more objective and formal.

3. Conditional Sentences (Type 1 & Type 2)

Example from the article:

"If computers could replicate human intelligence, they would transform society."

Grammar Point:

• This is a second conditional sentence, used for hypothetical situations.
• Structure: If + past simple, would + base verb
• Alternative: If referring to a real possibility, we use the first conditional:

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