Régys Borges da SilveiraBooks
History of AI
Artificial Intelligence did not begin in a chat box.
Antes do ChatGPT
The remarkable history of Artificial Intelligence, from early dreams to today's revolution
Discover how we arrived here through an accessible journey across the ideas, people, and machines that changed the world.
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This book is currently available in Brazilian Portuguese.
About the book
A complete view of the book.
Before ChatGPT tells the history of artificial intelligence as a journey through ideas, people, machines, expectations, and new beginnings. From ancient myths and automata to early calculators, from logic to computers, and from AI winters to modern neural networks, it shows that today's revolution was built over many decades.
Using accessible language, analogies, and light humor, the book explains concepts without requiring a technical background and connects past discoveries to present questions about work, privacy, deepfakes, and trust. It is an invitation to understand not only how we arrived here, but why human choices continue to shape technology's future.
The challenge
Does this situation sound familiar?
To many people, AI seems to have appeared in 2022. Without its history, it is difficult to separate genuine discoveries from repeated promises and to understand the human choices behind the technology.
The book’s approach
A path from intention to practice.
Travel from myths and automata to neural networks and modern assistants through stories, analogies, gentle humor, and examples that require no technical background.
“The history of Artificial Intelligence is not over.”
By the end of the book, you will be able to:
✓Recognize the milestones in AI history
✓Understand how machines learn
✓Separate fiction, marketing, and reality
✓See where AI already shapes daily life
✓Reflect on work, privacy, and deepfakes
✓Use new tools with critical judgment
Questions that guide the reading
Answers begin with the right questions.
Questions explored through context, criteria, and examples.
Which people and ideas made AI possible?
Why has the field alternated between enthusiasm and disappointment?
How did neural networks and Transformers lead to today's assistants?
Inside the book
A structured journey that helps you move forward.
Concepts and applications presented in a coherent sequence.
Myths and automata
Meet the ancient imaginaries that anticipated the desire to build artificial beings.
Calculating machines
Follow devices and ideas that expanded humanity's ability to calculate.
The birth of computing
Understand how logic, war, information, and early computers converged.
AI winters
See why exaggerated expectations created cycles of investment and frustration.
Neural networks and Transformers
Discover how data, hardware, and new architectures revived machine learning.
Risks and human choices
Connect AI's history to today's dilemmas around work, privacy, and trust.
What makes this book different
Depth to understand. Clarity to keep moving forward.
An accessible narrative for nontechnical readers
History told through people, ideas, mistakes, and discoveries
Analogies and gentle humor without abandoning accuracy
A bridge between AI's past and today's choices
Who this book is for
Knowledge that becomes action.
Curious readers, students, teachers, and families will find a direct approach connected to concrete problems.
✓ Readers without a technical background✓ Students and teachers✓ Parents and families✓ Anyone curious about technology
Before you begin
What you need to benefit from the book
✓No technical knowledge is required
✓Suitable for curious readers, families, students, and teachers
An informed choice
This may not be the right book if…
—Readers seeking a programming or tool-use manual
—Readers looking only for a short chronology of dates and names
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The remarkable history of Artificial Intelligence, from early dreams to today's revolution
Print edition ISBN: 978-65-02-25443-1Keep reading
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