Second AI Winter — expert systems market collapses

Event Summary

The Second AI Winter (1987) — the expert systems market collapsed after a decade of hype. Learn what caused the crash, how it reshaped AI research, and the lessons for today.

Impact Assessment

• Economic Disruption -2 · Medium-term

  Lisp machine industry collapsed; billions in government and corporate investment lost.

  Affected Groups: investors, tech companies, lisp machine industry

• Paradigm Shift +1 · Long-term

  The collapse weakened the symbolic-AI monoculture and created room for the later connectionist revival.

  Affected Groups: ai researchers, academia

• Risk Creation -1 · Long-term

  AI funding was slashed; the field suffered a decade-long reputation and investment drought.

  Affected Groups: ai researchers, students, general public

Consensus & Sources

• 1
  Wikipedia — AI winter

  URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_winter

  Reference Evidence Citation logged Live source
• 2
  Reuters — AI winter lessons: history's view on hype cycles

  URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ai-winter-analysis-idUSKCN1M40IB

  News Report Citation logged Live source