The generative AI revolution has begun--how did we get here?

Progress in AI systems often feels cyclical. Every few years, computers can suddenly do something they've never been able to do before. "Behold!" the AI true believers proclaim, "the age of artificial general intelligence is at hand!" "Nonsense!" the skeptics say. The truth usually lies somewhere in between. Media headlines are dominated by news about AI art, but there's also unprecedented progress in many widely disparate fields.