2.3 A Brief History of Machine Learning
Machine Learning evolved over decades. Here’s the story in simple language:
1950s — The Birth of AI and ML Ideas
Alan Turing asks the fundamental question:
“Can machines think?”
Foundational ideas of learning systems emerge.
1960s — Early Machine Learning Algorithms
The first ML algorithms appear:
- Nearest Neighbor
- Perceptron (first neural network idea)
Computers were too slow to train large models.
1980s — Rise of Decision Trees & Optimization
Algorithms like:
- ID3
- Decision Trees
- Backpropagation (key for neural networks)
These change the field forever.
1990s — Data Boom, Better Models
As data grew, ML became practical. Developments included:
- Support Vector Machines (SVM)
- Ensemble methods
2012 — Deep Learning Revolution
A neural network (AlexNet) beats traditional ML at image recognition. This is the turning point.
2017–Present — Transformers & Modern AI
Google introduces the Transformer architecture, leading to:
- GPT models
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
- LLaMA
Transformers redefine ML and NLP forever.