Ask 100 people "what is AI?" and you'll get 100 or more answers.  Here's mine: computers.  Plain and simple, it is the natural evolution of computers that began thousands of years ago with the abacus and whatever came before it. Computing has steadily evolved - extremely slow at first, but gradually getting faster and better until we get to the 20th century.  To me, AI is just the continuation of a snowball created millennia ago.

100% computer generated image

Moore's Law is not an actual law but rather a prediction that microchips double in capacity and halve in cost every two years.  It was conceived in 1965 by Gordon Moore and adjusted from one to two  years in 1975.  It has essentially held true for the past 50 years.

If you've ever been asked "which would you rather have, one million dollars or the sum of one penny doubled every day for one month?"  If you've worked it through you know that the penny doubling would net you over 10 million dollars on day 30 and 20 million on day 31.

Using Moore's law and beginning in 1975, we are at day 25 1/2.  A penny doubled every day for 25 days would be at $335,544.32, and on day 26 $670,000+.  In layman's terms, we are so far ahead of 1975 that the technology is unrecognizable, and it is getting better so fast we cannot keep up with it.  And it will continue to get better beyond our capability to understand it.