I’ve previously written about my first job after college, working in the field of artificial intelligence. AI work had an energy and optimism that was very exciting. But, over time, the field slowed down, faced with complex problems that seemed insurmountable. But over the past ten years, AI been picking up steam again. Researchers are using increasingly large databases of information, and developing new ways of analyzing and learning from them. And they’re working on question-answering…
 
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Back in the 80s there was an AI (artificial intelligence) boom – a euphoric time of specialized computers and the belief that we were going to be able to invent smart computer systems. It was after Xerox PARC‘s peak but before personal computers had the computing power that eventually put specialized high-end workstations on the path to extinction. My first job after college was in Boston at BBN — working in their AI and Experimental…
 
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