I dont think it is sudden and not necessarily unexpected.
Certainly not unexpected. 20 years ago I taught computers at a local tech college. Classes ranging from intro to computers to Net+/A+ cert classes. In the intro classes, one of the first things I did was have all the students visit a-i.com and interact with the very rudimentary chatbot that was at that URL that many years ago. We would then discuss a-i and computing in general, where we were headed with computers, etc. I told every class of mine that, at some point, you wouldn’t be able to get a job digging ditches unless you knew how to program the ditch digging robots, or to program the AI that would be controlling them.