It's crazy how little has changed and how much had changed. I remember what a revelation "the unreasonable effectiveness of RNNs" was when I was read it and it feels like we live in a different world.
The new stuff is better, by a lot, and with implications more to come.
But those of us paying attention then had a frame of reference where “so much better it’s crazy” still stops short of “it’s out of control”.
It’s a lot better.