It isn't just the advances in the field... it is the accessibility of it all. The resources to run it are becoming more available, as GPU-focused cloud instances are now generally available, as well as just buying your own GPUs. Education is available to coders on how to get up to speed on this field, so it isn't just those with a academic background in it who are able to contribute to projects anymore. I'm not saying that us weekend dabblers in this field will surpass those who have dedicated years of study to it, but we are gaining enough understanding to come up with innovative ways to use it, and to contribute to projects. Even if we are not doing the ground breaking work, more people working on more projects will bring more innovation.