I got my PhD diploma in AI in the late eighties (yes, a long time ago) in France. Then I worked for 30+ years as a researcher in several universities. So, I think I’m entitled to call myself an expert in AI.
Well, not all AI. Few people know that AI is, in reality, a broad umbrella term that covers a range of entirely different techniques. It’s like calling a hammer, a screwdriver, and a wrench all just ‘tools’ without explaining they do totally different jobs.
I was an expert in a fraction of the AI fields, including Automated Reasoning, Knowledge Representation, Machine Learning, Intelligent Agents and not much more. This leaves out AI branches like Neural Networks, Evolutionary Computing, and many other fields about which I knew very little.
Anyway, a lifetime as an AI researcher gave me the confidence ( too much confidence, I accept it) that I knew what was possible in AI and what was not.
So, when ChatGPT had its “iPhone moment” in 2022 and shattered records for user adoption, I looked at all the hype with a skeptical smile. “Just a glorified chatbot,” I thought.