Yann LeCun: An AI Groundbreaker Takes Stock

For starters, computers simply lacked the processing power to make things happen. Floppy disk-drive machines paled in sophistication compared with modern smartphones, and computer chips wouldn't hold a million components until 1989. Yet another obstacle dogged any dreams of AI from taking form. In 1984, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence held a fateful meeting where field pioneer Marvin Minsky, of all people, warned the business community that investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence would eventually lead to disappointment. Sure enough, AI investment began to collapse.