The periods are subjective, fuzzy things. I think I agree with Sam's definitions although I would probably say age of machine learning rather than age of AI.
On the software side, people found that safety, scalability, and maintenance were important. They needed high-level languages that did things like bounds-checks or stack protection. They needed the ability to freeze and inspect errant programs instead of crash them. They needed the software interfaces to check for right data being passed. They needed to scale on multiple CPU's. They preferred their OS's to come with source code for easier fixes or extensions.
Im sure you know all about those two mainframes from IBM (1963-1970's) and Burroughs (1961) that did those things. Then came to power most large business and government institutions critical apps to this day. Anyway, I hear people made incremental improvements doing similar things with x86, Linux, and vastly lower cost-per-resource. Incremental improvements on capabilities that took off in the 60's. ;)
> We are only about 30 years into the age of software, about 20 years into the age of the internet, and about 2 years into the age of artificial intelligence.
Software has been around--and actively making bank!--for over 40 years. The internet has been around longer in the form of academic institutions, email, and BBS than you mention.
And AI has, of course, been around at least as long as software.
I appreciate you have a message to send, but maybe don't ignore the path we took to get here.