The AI boom (also known as the AI spring[1]) refers to an ongoing period of rapid and unprecedented development in the field of artificial intelligence, with the generative AI race being a key component of this boom, which began in earnest with the founding of OpenAI in 2016 or 2017.[2]
OpenAI's generative AI systems, such as its various GPT models (starting in 2018) and DALL-E (2021), have played a significant role in driving this development.[3][4][5]
In 2022, large language models were improved to where they could be used for chatbot applications; text-to-image-models were at a point where they were almost indiscernible from human-made imagery;[6] and speech synthesis software was able to replicate human speech efficiently.[7]
Over the course of late 2022 and 2023, dozens of new websites and AI chatbots were made live as Big Tech has tried to gain a foothold in the market and has led to an unprecedented increase in the ubiquity of AI tools.[8]
Public reaction to the AI boom has been mixed, with some parties hailing the new possibilities that AI creates,[9] its potential for benefiting humanity, and sophistication, while other parties denounced it for threatening job security, being 'uncanny' in its responses, and for giving flawed responses based on the programming.[10][11][12][13]