[willsher]

It seems the nature of this and VR that they come to boom for a while and then bust, having stagnated. They then wait for the next alignment of underpinning technology, knowledge and culture to emerge again. Last last one I'm aware of was mid-late 1990s, where VRML was gaining traction and new ways of thinking about AI were emerging.

IBM Watson or similar (if I recall IBM was still calling their business AI system Watson back then) seems to be promenant in these two booms and both times the results it gives haven't matches it's marketing hype.

The technology, having been significantly furthered fades into the day to day of computing somewhat until the next boom that drives more short burst innovation and awareness.

Conscious AI and realistic VR is some way off, if we ever see it. Culturally and ethically we are not ready to answer the questions it poses and the cyclical nature gives us more time to digest the latest raft of questions in light of the progress.