Rise of the Machines - random thoughts on AI

I keep hearing AI this and AI that as though it were something new.
Programmers know that it is nothing new. It's what programmers have been doing since the first computer - programming algorithms to do what humans could not, or did not want to do. And they did it faster. The catchy terms "AI" to describe all this is what is new. Computers do not think, do not feel, do not dream and are not creative. The so called "AI" programs cannot write a better version of themselves. They cannot evolve. Think back to a machine called the "Jacquard Loom" or "Jacquard Machine." It could be programmed to make intricate textile designs. It did the work that for humans was tedious and time consuming. It was the precursor to the programmable computer. It was, in a sense, "AI."