Dev.to
7/3/2026
The Pre-ChatGPT Era: When Early-Access Developers Witnessed AI's Exponential Progress (2020-2022)
Original: The Quiet Before the Storm: What We Saw in Silicon Valley Right Before AI Changed Everything (And Nobody Believed Us)
Short summary
Before ChatGPT's November 2022 launch, early-access developers witnessed GPT-3 and GitHub Copilot's exponential capability growth in real time while the public obsessed over NFTs and Metaverse real estate. The author articulates the silent panic and existential certainty among insiders who recognized the world would transform fundamentally—a jarring contrast to mainstream ignorance. This compelling narrative captures the untold "pre-AI era" when the future was locked behind API keys, visible only to Silicon Valley's privileged circle.
- •Early LLM APIs (GPT-3, Copilot) were available to select developers in 2020-2021, months before public ChatGPT launch
- •Developer community split into Denialists, pragmatists, and existentialists who recognized exponential capability trajectory
- •Insider knowledge of AI's imminent dominance contrasted sharply with public obsession over NFTs and the Metaverse
Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.
Is this a good recommendation for you?
