Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable. The Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines.

 

AI covers quite a vast area and so it's no surprise there are numerous examples of how it's being used in both industry and everyday life. For example, driverless cars employ AI to make decisions about how a car should react in certain scenarios, such as an obstacle getting in the way. Should the car instantly stop, just slow down or keep going? Naturally this is dependent on what the car has sensed is in the way. Less alarming real-world examples of AI include using the technology to test humans on a strategic level. For example, Google's AlphaGo robot was used to prove that computers can be smarter than humans by beating some of the world's leading Chinese board game Go players. To a lesser extent, many of the voice assistant systems including Siri, Google Now and Cortana use AI to make decisions based on your commands. For example, if you ask Siri for a restaurant recommendation, it will use the data it knows about you (such as where you are, what kind of food you like) to recommend a restaurant to you.

 

There's no getting away from the fact that if robots are capable of learning and automating complicated tasks, they're going to be far better at performing certain roles than humans. And let's face it, businesses are always looking to cut costs. Lawyers, teachers, and even us journalists are thought by some to be under threat of automation. Yet there's a compelling argument that the technology will enhance, not replace, these jobs.