Lesson 01 · 9 min read

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the field of building computer systems that can perform tasks we normally associate with human intelligence—like understanding language, spotting patterns, and making decisions.

What is AI?

AI systems use data, algorithms, and computing power to produce useful outputs. A spam filter classifies messages, a navigation app predicts traffic, and a voice assistant interprets speech. Each turns inputs into an output using learned or programmed rules.

AI is a broad umbrella. Machine learning is one way to build AI: instead of writing every rule by hand, we train a model to learn patterns from examples.

The simple model

Input + process → output

Data enters a system, the model finds a useful pattern, and the system returns a prediction or action.

AI, machine learning, and deep learning

Comparison of AI fields
TermMeaningExample
AIBroad goal of machine intelligence.Route planner
Machine learningLearning patterns from data.Fraud detection
Deep learningLayered neural-network learning.Image recognition

Example

function recommendNextStep(topic) {
  if (topic === 'AI') return 'Learn machine learning basics';
  return 'Start with Introduction to AI';
}