Foundations · beginner
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is the field of computer science that builds systems capable of tasks normally thought to require human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognizing images, or making decisions.
Explanation
AI is an umbrella term, not a specific technology. It covers everything from rule-based chess engines from the 1950s to today's large language models. What unites them is the attempt to make machines do things that, when humans do them, we call "intelligent."
Modern AI is dominated by machine learning — systems that learn patterns from data rather than following explicit instructions. Within machine learning, deep learning (using deep neural networks) has been the main engine of progress since 2012, and large language models are the most prominent application of deep learning today.
"AI" in 2026 almost always means a large neural network — usually a transformer-based language or vision model — trained on enormous datasets.
Examples
- ChatGPT answering a question is AI (an LLM).
- Your phone unlocking with your face is AI (a vision model).
- Spam filters are AI (older statistical classifiers).
Frequently asked
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is the field of computer science that builds systems capable of tasks normally thought to require human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognizing images, or making decisions.
What is an example of artificial intelligence?
ChatGPT answering a question is AI (an LLM).
How is Artificial Intelligence related to Machine Learning?
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are both foundations concepts. Machine learning is the branch of AI in which models learn patterns from data instead of being explicitly programmed. The training process adjusts model parameters to reduce error on examples.
Is Artificial Intelligence considered beginner?
Artificial Intelligence is generally considered beginner-level material in the AI and LLM space.