1950 – 1970
Act 1 · The dream
Rule-based systems. Optimism and theoretical foundations.
IA esencial
Intro to AI
From history to today: what types exist, which tools to use, and where to keep learning.
Scroll to continueHistory
Three acts, one film
AI did not start with ChatGPT. It began as a dream, went through a long winter, and exploded when hardware, data, and algorithms finally aligned.
1970 – 2000
Act 2 · The winter
Limited by hardware and data. Interest cooled off.
2010 – today
Act 3 · The boom
Big Data, GPUs, and deep learning. Convergence.
Turing Test
Dartmouth Workshop
Lighthill Report
Big Data · GPU · algorithms
Act 1 · 1950 – 1970
The dream
A group of visionary scientists asked: “Can we make machines think?” It was an age of optimism: foundations were laid and robotic assistants were imagined.
Analogy It was like writing the script for a spectacular science-fiction film.
Act 2 · 1980 – 2000
The winter
The idea was brilliant, but the tech was not ready. Computers were not powerful enough and data was scarce. Interest — and funding — faded.
Analogy They had an incredible script, but the special effects needed to shoot it had not been invented yet.
Act 3 · 2010 – today
The boom
Suddenly everything changed. Three things aligned:
-
01
Hardware Super-powered computers — driven in large part by the video-game industry (GPUs).
-
02
Data Massive amounts of data: the internet and big data.
-
03
Algorithms Deep learning ready to put the first two to work.
Analogy At last the special effects arrived, a huge budget, and the right director. The film started rolling.
Types of AI
Not all AI is the same
Before picking tools, it helps to know which “level” we are talking about.
ANI · Artificial Narrow Intelligence
Narrow / weak AI
It is an expert at one thing. Outstanding at that task — and useless at everything else. This is what we use every day.
Examples: Netflix · face unlock · Siri / Alexa
AGI
Strong / general AI
Movie AI: any intellectual task a human can do.
Does not exist yet
ASI
Superintelligence
Surpasses humans in creativity and problem-solving.
Science fiction · for now
At work you use narrow AI. Your job: direct the right specialist.
Bonus
AI in your day to day
It is not the future: it is a tool you can use today to improve your work.
Marketing
- Campaign ideas
- Social post drafts
- Video scripts
- Comment sentiment
Human resources
- Job descriptions
- Interview questions
- Onboarding plans
- Résumé summaries
Sales
- Follow-up emails
- Sales talk tracks
- Objection practice
Education
- Lesson plans
- Practice exercises
- Explain with analogies
- Leveled quizzes
Tools
Five specialists
There is no single “correct” AI. Pick the specialist for the job — then try it below.
OpenAI
ChatGPT
Swiss army knife for almost any text task.
chatgpt.com →Gemini
Connected researcher · fresh info and Google ecosystem.
gemini.google.com →Microsoft
Copilot
Office assistant · Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams.
copilot.microsoft.com →Anthropic
Claude
Document analyst · long PDFs and careful tone.
claude.ai →Perplexity
Perplexity AI
Journalist who cites sources · search + chat.
perplexity.ai →Which tool for this task?
Same ANI family · different specialist for each request.
Go further
Useful links
Industry reports, foundational papers, conceptual reading, and Spanish-language creators to go deeper.
Industry reports
Foundational papers
Conceptual reading
Spanish-language creators
Recap · IA esencial
Keep this map
History, types, and tools: the minimum map to start using AI with judgment.
- AI moved from dream to winter to today’s boom.
- At work you use narrow AI (ANI): specialists, not universal geniuses.
- Pick the tool for the task — not for the hype.
- The next chapters in the series are coming soon.
Series · ch. 0
Chapters 1 and 2
Coming soon
Social