Today's AI 'Revolution' Is More Of An Evolution

In the science fiction canon, the rise of the machines comes swiftly and visibly. After the initial development of primitive AI systems, the technology advances rapidly, infusing itself throughout society and leading to widespread conflict and displacement as machines rapidly replace humans in a sweeping revolution. The reality is that today's AI revolution is happening far more slowly and relatively silently, with algorithms often displacing traditional human tasks in less visible tasks behind the scenes, while the pace of this revolution is far slower than the public hype around AI might suggest. The Hollywood version of the AI revolution typically revolves around a singular breakthrough in AI technology that leads to exponential growth in machine intelligence, displacing humans and upending the societal structure until, in the blink of an eye, algorithms are in charge. Today's reality is far more mundane.