Understanding Generative AI: A Comprehensive Guide

Saurabh Harak
11 min readSep 18, 2024

Generative AI refers to deep-learning models that can produce high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on. It’s a groundbreaking technology that’s transforming how we interact with machines, creating content that closely mimics human creativity.

A Brief History of Generative AI

The concept of generative AI isn’t new. It’s been evolving over decades, drawing on machine learning breakthroughs from as far back as the early 20th century. Here’s a timeline highlighting some key milestones:

Image courtesy of TechTarget from: https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/generative-AI

1932: The Mechanical Brain

Georges Artsrouni invents what is often called the “mechanical brain” — a machine designed to translate languages using punch cards on a mechanical computer. This marked an early exploration of automated language translation.

1957: Noam Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures

Linguist Noam Chomsky publishes Syntactic Structures, introducing grammatical rules that became foundational for generating natural language sentences, paving the way for future natural language processing advancements.

1966: Eliza — The First Chatbot

MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum creates Eliza, the world’s first chatbot, designed to simulate…

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Saurabh Harak
Saurabh Harak

Written by Saurabh Harak

Hi, I'm a software developer/ML Engineer passionate about solving problems and delivering solutions through code. I love to explore new technologies.