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19871980s
The Second AI Winter
The collapse of the expert system market and specialized hardware.
Why It Was Important
As standard desktop computers (Apple, IBM PC) aggressively outpaced specialized LISP machines in cost-performance, the multi-billion dollar expert system industry collapsed. Combined with the maintenance nightmare of updating massive brittle rule-bases, commercial funding for AI dried up entirely by the late 80s.
Who Invented It
Market reality
Driven by Moore's Law acting on commodity hardware.
Applications
- Silicon Valley Economics
- Hardware Market Cycles