Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of research in computer science that develops and studies methods and software that enable machines to perceive their environment and use learning and intelligence to take actions that maximize their chances of achieving defined goals.Such machines may be called AIs.

High-profile applications of AI include advanced web search engines  recommendation systems  virtual assistants ; autonomous vehicles ; generative and creative tools  and superhuman play and analysis in strategy games . However, many AI applications are not perceived as AI: "A lot of cutting edge AI has filtered into general applications, often without being called AI because once something becomes useful enough and common enough it's not labeled AI anymore.

Various subfields of AI research are centered around particular goals and the use of particular tools. The traditional goals of AI research include learning, reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, natural language processing, perception, and support for robotics.General intelligence—the ability to complete any task performed by a human on an at least equal level—is among the field's long-term goals.^[4] To reach these goals, AI researchers have adapted and integrated a wide range of techniques, including search and mathematical optimization, formal logic, artificial neural networks, and methods based on statistics, operations research, and economics.AI also draws upon psychology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, and other fields.

Artificial intelligence was founded as an academic discipline in 1956, and the field went through multiple cycles of optimism throughout its history, followed by periods of disappointment and loss of funding, known as AI winters.Funding and interest vastly increased after 2012 when deep learning outperformed previous AI techniques.^[11] This growth accelerated further after 2017 with the transformer architecture, and by the early 2020s many billions of dollars were being invested in AI and the field experienced rapid ongoing progress in what has become known as the AI boom. The emergence of advanced generative AI in the midst of the AI boom and its ability to create and modify content exposed several unintended consequences and harms in the present and raised concerns about the risks of AI and its long-term effects in the future, prompting discussions about regulatory policies to ensure the safety and benefits of the technology.

Goals

The general problem of simulating (or creating) intelligence has been broken into subproblems. These consist of particular traits or capabilities that researchers expect an intelligent system to display. The traits described below have received the most attention and cover the scope of AI research.^[a]

Reasoning and problem-solving

Early researchers developed algorithms that imitated step-by-step reasoning that humans use when they solve puzzles or make logical deductions. By the late 1980s and 1990s, methods were developed for dealing with uncertain or incomplete information, employing concepts from probability and economics.

Many of these algorithms are insufficient for solving large reasoning problems because they experience a "combinatorial explosion": They become exponentially slower as the problems grow.Even humans rarely use the step-by-step deduction that early AI research could model. They solve most of their problems using fast, intuitive judgments. Accurate and efficient reasoning is an unsolved problem.

 

Benefits of AI 

AI offers numerous benefits across various industries and applications. Some of the most commonly cited benefits include:

• Automation of repetitive tasks.
• More and faster insight from data.
  
• Enhanced decision-making.
  
• Fewer human errors.
• 24x7 availability.
• Reduced physical risks.

 

Why is AI important?

AI is important for its potential to change how we live, work and play. It has been effectively used in business to automate tasks traditionally done by humans, including customer service, lead generation, fraud detection and quality control.

 

In a number of areas, AI can perform tasks more efficiently and accurately than humans. It is especially useful for repetitive, detail-oriented tasks such as analyzing large numbers of legal documents to ensure relevant fields are properly filled in. AI's ability to process massive data sets gives enterprises insights into their operations they might not otherwise have noticed. The rapidly expanding array of generative AI tools is also becoming important in fields ranging from education to marketing to product design.

 

Advances in AI techniques have not only helped fuel an explosion in efficiency, but also opened the door to entirely new business opportunities for some larger enterprises. Prior to the current wave of AI, for example, it would have been hard to imagine using computer software to connect riders to taxis on demand, yet Uber has become a Fortune 500 company by doing just that.

 

AI has become central to many of today's largest and most successful companies, including Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Meta, which use AI to improve their operations and outpace competitors. At Alphabet subsidiary Google, for example, AI is central to its eponymous search engine, and self-driving car company Waymo began as an Alphabet division. The Google Brain research lab also invented the transformer architecture that underpins recent NLP breakthroughs

 

 what is an AI pc

      

AI PCs represent a new generation of personal computers with dedicated AI acceleration, including a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), and a neural processing unit (NPU), all designed to handle AI workloads more efficiently by working in concert. With cutting-edge capabilities, the AI PC is ready for new applications, such as tools that can act as local AI assistants, saving you time by summarizing meeting transcripts and creating drafts. When powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra processors, AI PCs have the ability to balance power and performance for fast and efficient AI experiences.

 

The main types of artificial intelligence

In order to fully understand what AI is and how it works, one must take into account the current state of artificial intelligence and the potential scenarios towards which it can evolve as the technology is further developed.

According to the original outline of Arend Hintze, a professor at Michigan State University, there are four main types of AI. This categorization spans from the way we’re used to interacting with AI today, to the more “sci-fi” view of how AI might function in the future as sentient systems.

01. Reactive machines

In reactive machines, the AI’s main goal is to complete a task by reacting to the information presented to it. This type of artificial intelligence system isn’t able to store memory of previous data, therefore it can’t use data in order to fine-tune its responses to a present task. For this reason, reactive AI machines are generally used to perform specific tasks with set outcomes rather than learn from a multitude of different scenarios.

One of the most famous examples of reactive machines is IBM’s Deep Blue, a supercomputer built to play chess and ended up winning in a game against then-grandmaster, Garry Kasparov. While Deep Blue was able to look at a chessboard and identify chess pieces and potential moves, its intelligence was limited to making predictions on moves and taking the most logical next move. The machine wasn’t able to learn about its opponent by gathering data about his habits, game-play flaws, or signature chess moves.

02. Limited memory

Unlike Deep Blue and other reactive machines, a limited memory AI system is able to learn, to a limited extent, from the information it has already seen in order to inform its future actions. The opportunities with limited memory AI systems are a lot greater since they’re able to improve their behavior using the data they’re exposed to.

In order to create this limited memory, human teams need to train the AI system with a model so that it can learn to analyze new data. The machine needs to be consistently exposed to new data so that when it’s faced by a user, it has the existing memory necessary to predict what comes next. An example of limited memory technology is self-driving cars, which are exposed to enough data and models of different driving scenarios so that it can make its own decisions when on the road.

03. Theory of mind

Theory of mind AI systems have a much deeper psychological core, as they’re able to read and interpret human emotions and learn from social intelligence in addition to raw data. We have yet to achieve this level of artificial intelligence in our society, however, AI programs falling under the theory of mind category would be able to understand how humans make decisions based on emotions so that it could more accurately predict behavior. This would allow for more of a symbiotic relationship between man and AI-powered machines.

04. Self-awareness

The self-aware type of artificial intelligence also does not exist, but might conjure up images from films of robots taking over humanity as we know it. While that scenario is highly unlikely, the notion of AI developing into something with consciousness is the final type of artificial intelligence technology.

In addition to being able to understand the psychology and emotions of others as we saw in the theory of mind programs, this type of machine would also be aware of its own existence and place in the world. However, for now, this kind of AI remains the stuff of science fiction as it will take tons of advanced research into fully understanding and reproducing a human-like consciousness.

Weak vs strong AI

Another way that we use to divide the different types of artificial intelligence is by categorizing them as weak and strong, also known as narrow and general.

Weak (or “narrow”) AI

Weak AI refers to the kinds of artificial intelligence that we’re used to in our day-to-day lives. In other words, weak AI is the type of machine that’s meant to complete a set task very well. While these types of systems might seem highly intelligent, they’re functioning within boundaries that limit the level of intelligence they can achieve.

Examples of weak or narrow AI include any type of software that automates or analyzes data, virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa, and even weather apps. This type of artificial intelligence programs are more focused on making our lives more efficient, instead of simulating real human intelligence in all its capacity.

Strong (or “general”) AI

Strong AI, also sometimes called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), refers to artificial intelligence systems that, at the moment, only exist in the movies. Robots from films such as I, Robot or in the series Westworld exemplify the extreme sides of AGI.

In reality, strong artificial intelligence in the future might look like AI systems that are able to completely mimic the scope of human intelligence, including emotion, creativity, and adaptability in order to fulfill tasks. However, unlike in dramatised versions of artificial intelligence machines in movies, general AI is likely to assist and expand our abilities as humans rather than replacing them entirely.

Generative AI

At its core, Generative AI  refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can generate new content, from images and music to text and code. In contrast to earlier versions of artificial intelligence, generative AI isn't just analyzing data and collecting insights, but is actually creating something new from what it has learned.