AI winter
noun phrase
Definition: A period of declining funding, reduced public and institutional interest, and lowered expectations in artificial intelligence research, typically following earlier waves of optimism and overpromising. In contemporary historiography, the term is used both for the specific downturns of the 1970s and late 1980s–early 1990s and more generally for cyclical contractions in AI enthusiasm [Toosi et al. 2021].
Example in context : “An AI winter may be defined as the stage when technology, business, and the media come to terms with what AI can or cannot really do as a technology without exaggeration.” [Floridi 2020]
Synonym: winter of artificial intelligence
Related terms: AI boom; expert systems era; funding cycle; hype cycle