What is AI?
AI is an acronym for Artificial Intelligence, a term that dates back to computer research done in the 50s
Even back then, when computers were almost the size of a Walmart store, computer scientists saw the thinking potential of electronic digital computers
We can define AI as a branch of computer science dedicated to creating machines and systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence. It is 'artificial' in the sense that it is not human. As Fei-Fei Li says, "I often tell my students not to be misled by the name 'artificial intelligence' - there is nothing artificial about it. AI is made by humans, intended to behave by humans, and, ultimately, to impact humans' lives and human society."
AI is a transformative technology. It works across industries, from agriculture to transportation, and across disciplines. AI enables machines to learn from experience, adapt to new inputs, execute complex tasks similar to human capabilities, and make decisions without explicit programming for every scenario like computer programs of the past. AI systems can recognize patterns, solve problems, understand natural language, make predictions, perform reasoning and decision-making, and much more.
To cite a few examples, in healthcare AI is used to diagnosis diseases and perform robotic surgery; in finance it is used for fraud detection and algorithmic commodities trading; in transportation there are self-driving cars and traffic management systems; in entertainment AI provides content recommendations and AI-generated art and music, and in customer service there are virtual assistants and chatbots for efficient interaction with customers. There are many other examples covering virtually every aspect of everyday life, and applications are growing all the time.
Stay with us and enjoy learning more about AI and all its components and applications!
Links
cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence
nasa.gov/what-is-artificial-intelligence/
britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence