what were the main causes of the first winter of ai?

The main causes of the first AI winter (approximately 1974-1980) were largely rooted in over-optimistic expectations that AI would achieve human-level intelligence much faster than was feasible, leading to widespread disappointment when the technology failed to deliver on these promises. Key contributing factors included fundamental technical hurdles such as the combinatorial explosion making problems computationally intractable, insufficient computing power and memory of the time, lack of large datasets, and theoretical limitations demonstrated by influential works like "Perceptrons" by Marvin Minsky and Seymour Papert. Additionally, influential critical reports such as the Lighthill Report in the UK sharply criticized AI research for unrealistic goals and lack of practical results, which caused funding agencies and governments to drastically reduce financial support for AI projects. This led to a sharp downturn in AI research interest and funding, resulting in many projects being canceled and the slowing of AI progress overall.