Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science focused on building machines that think and behave like humans. Its goal is to make computers and robots capable of tasks that would normally require human intelligence, including learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception and language understanding. It is also considered a subfield of data analytics and statistics, hardware and software engineering, linguistics and neuroscience, among others.
While some researchers work toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is defined as a machine that can perform any task a human can, the vast majority of AI research takes place in specific branches, such as deep learning and natural language processing. These tools are often used for data analytics, predictions and forecasting, object categorization, recommendations, intelligent information retrieval and more.
AI has long been part of our lives, whether in the form of a self-service kiosk at an airport to check in for a flight or a voice assistant on our smartphones. However, it continues to grow in its applications and become increasingly useful in many industries. AI is transforming the way we live, work and play.
The technology has some critics who say it is dangerous or unethical, especially in the workplace where it can replace jobs and create a digital divide between workers with and without AI skills. It also has raised ethical questions about privacy, whose data is being used to train AI systems and whether it can be discriminatory. In addition, it has caused some concern about how easy it could be for someone to trick a system into thinking they are talking to a human.