> will make AI winter a continuing reality.

This will be a good thing. Theoretical development thrived under the AI “winter”.

I am going to throw the rooster in the hen house and say it: It seems that a large part of AI is thinking up new functions with parameters to be tuned. These parameters are called something exotic and words “neural” and “network” is used liberally.

"It seems that a large part of AI is thinking up new functions with parameters to be tuned."

Doesn't that encompass all of Computer Science?