Other revolutions in technology

ChatGPT is not the only revolution in the technology space. There have been others but you would have had to be in the tech world then to realise.

At the end of November last year, a San Fransisco-based AI (artificial intelligence) software company, OpenAI, released a new version of its software, ChatGPT. When they released the new version the sudden uptake of the software by the public was surprising. Within two months it had 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.

The number of articles about ChatGPT since the start of 2023 has been enormous, and there have been all sorts of predictions and comments about it. The hype around AI is reminiscent of the explosion of popularity in 1994 of the web browsers Mosiac and Netscape Navigator after the World Wide Web became available. In the same way that the World Wide Web changed the world in ways no one could anticipate, the same kind of unexpected innovations are going to result from AI. As Bill Gates recently commented

Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.

If you are old enough you will remember the browser revolution, but there have been other technology revolutions — Jeff Bezos’ API mandate, the PC, the GUI (graphical user interface), going back even further, IBM opening up its mainframes to ISVs (independent software vendors). These all had huge impacts and unanticipated consequences.

Let me know if I missed anything.