and maybe huge leaps have occurred since then
The idea that AI is advancing at an incredible rate simply isn't true. That is, we're not doing anything fundamentally different. What we are doing is using them differently. Different tricks to get effectively larger context windows without actually having a larger context window, invisibly modifying prompts, post-processing the output, using traditional algorithms in combination, etc. We're doing all sorts of things to try to improve the subjective quality of the output, but the models themselves are fundamentally the same as they've been for years.
It's becoming impossible for even the most optimistic to ignore the real problems and limitations of the technology, so the industry really needs people to believe that these are just temporary bumps in the road, soon to be solved as the technology advances. I don't expect the hype to last though the year though, now that we've crammed AI into everything.
To avoid any confusion, the way ChatGPT works and the way Eliza works really are fundamentally different. The psychology on the human side is the same though.