AI 101 - Bridging the Gap

Despite all the noise about AI, many people especially those who didn’t grow up with this tech feel disconnected from it. The headlines and prime time shows talk about AI revolutionizing industries, but for most, it still feels like something distant, something only “techies” understand.

This post is my attempt to bridge the gap with some extent. If you’re comfortable with undertanding the language, I am sure you will get the essence of it

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If you’re wondering why everyone is talking AI these days, you’re not alone. Think about the first time you saw a calculator. Back in the day, doing math meant using pen and paper, but suddenly, the tiny machine could do in seconds. It didn’t replace people — it just made calculations faster. That’s how AI started too, as a tool to help with specific tasks.

The Early Days

Think of AI as a small child learning to walk. In the 1960s and 1970s, researchers first got the idea of making machines “think” like humans. This was a big deal. But these early AI models were like child who only memorizes things without really understanding them. Computers could follow step-by-step instructions but couldn’t make descisions on their own.

The Internet Boom

In the 1990s, as the Internet exploded, AI got more data to learn from. Just like a student starts reading books, playing games and watch videos, AI systems started recognizing patterns. This led to things like Google Search and basic chatbots. But AI was still following rules pre-defined by humans — it wasn’t truly “thinking”.

The Deep Learning Revolution

The real shift happened in the 2010s when computers became powerful enough to process massive amounts of data. AI started learning on its own, just like a person who gets better at something by practicing a lot. This phenonmenon is called “deep learning” - where AI learns patterns from millions of examples of data (already preserved in the internet) rather than following fixed rules. That was the moment AI started recognizing photos, translating languages, and even beating humans at comples games like Go.

Generative AI

Now we are in the era of Generative AI, where AI doesn’t just answer questions but can also create things - images, music, and even do deep research. This is why ChatGPT, Deepseek, MidJounrey and DALL.E have taken the world by storm.

AI can now write essays, generate artworks, automate machinery and even assist in scientific discoveries. It’s like giving a calculator a brain — now it doesn’t just solve 2*2 but can write a poem about it.

The Future

AI is evolving rapidly. Some fear it will take jobs, while others beleive it will create new oppurtunities — just like computers did. What’s certain is that AI is not magic; it’s a very advanced tool. The challenge now is to use it wisely.