What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence describes the broad field of computer science focused on building systems that can perform tasks requiring human-like reasoning and perception. The term has been around since the 1950s, but recent advances in machine learning — particularly deep learning — have produced practical AI applications that are transforming business operations, software products, and daily life.

AI is not one technology but many: natural language processing (NLP) enables machines to read, interpret, and generate human language; computer vision enables machines to analyze and understand images and video; reinforcement learning trains systems through trial-and-error to optimize for specific outcomes; and generative AI creates new content — text, images, audio, and code — that didn't previously exist.

Critically, modern AI systems are not "intelligent" in the way humans are — they're pattern-matching systems trained on vast datasets. They excel at tasks with clear patterns in data and fail unpredictably at tasks requiring common sense, genuine reasoning, or novel situations outside their training distribution. Understanding this distinction is important for setting realistic expectations about what AI can and can't reliably do for your business.