1950s
Shervin Khodabandeh said someone at a World Bank event reminded them that AI has existed since the 1950s.
“at the World Bank event a couple of days ago, somebody reminded us that, well, AI's been around since the 50s.”
Topic
Artificial intelligence
9 facts from 7 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
1950s
The first wave of AI, called the cybernetics era, began in the 1950s.
“The first one actually started in the nineteen fifties. It's called the cybernetics era”
1956
Eliezer Yudkowsky read from the 1956 proposal for a two-month, ten-person study of artificial intelligence at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
“We propose that a two month, ten man study of artificial intelligence be carried out during the summer of 1956 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.”
1980s-1990s
In the 1980s and 1990s, the trained expert era used rule-based programming to replicate human decision making in domains like medicine and engineering.
“This era is called the trained expert era, and this is where machines were attempting to replicate human decision making in specific domains like medicine, like engineering”
2025
Chris Benson described a recent study in which subjects who used AI for everything showed decreased brain capability over time.
“the subjects that were in this, uh, study that were using, uh, their AI for everything were showing decreased brain capability.”
Undated
Some estimates cited by host Kurt Nickisch put the failure rate of AI projects at around 80%, double that of corporate IT projects a decade earlier.
“some estimates find that around 80% of AI projects fail, which is double the rate of corporate IT projects from a decade ago.”
Undated
Daniel Whitenack said AI investment relative to GDP is still relatively low compared with past transformative revolutions such as railroads and electrification.
“the magnitude of the investment relative to kind of the GDP, um, is still relatively low compared to other kind of. If you wanna think back to actual, you know, other transformative revolutions like railroads or electrification”
Undated
Choudary says studies show AI helps less skilled workers more than higher skilled ones, compressing the skill premium.
“there have been many studies over the past two to three years which show that less skilled workers when complemented by AI”
Undated
Ramin Mohammadi says entry-level AI job postings often require about three years of experience.
“We we see job posting for entry level, you know, that that job requires about three years of experience.”
Episodes
- 30 Mar 2023#368 – Eliezer Yudkowsky: Dangers of AI and the End of Human Civilization3h 22m
- 6 Feb 2024Bonus Episode: Generative AI Trends for 2024 With Tom Davenport26m
- 17 Nov 2025Why Your AI Strategy Is Failing: Fortune 500 CEO Advisor Explains | CXOTalk #90058m
- 19 Mar 2026Strategy Summit 2026: Why AI Means Radical Change30m
- 5 Dec 2023Setting AI Projects Up for Success25m
- 10 Dec 2025The AI engineer skills gap45m
- 10 Nov 2025Are we in an AI bubble?49m