What Is Artificial Intelligence?

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad term for computer systems designed to perform tasks such as recognizing patterns, making predictions, interpreting language, and generating content. Not every algorithm is AI, and not every AI system is a chatbot.

Common kinds of AI

Machine learning uses examples or data to learn patterns. Generative AI produces text, images, code, or other outputs. Large language models (LLMs) are a type of generative AI trained to predict and produce sequences of language. Computer vision systems process visual information. Other AI systems help rank recommendations, detect anomalies, or make predictions.

What can AI do well?

Depending on the system and task, AI can summarize documents, draft messages, assist with coding, help organize information, recognize patterns in data, and support research and creative work. Its usefulness depends on the task, available information, and verification.

What can go wrong?

AI can fabricate facts and citations, reproduce biases, expose information shared with it, misunderstand context, and give an answer that sounds more certain than the evidence supports. Accuracy is not guaranteed by confident language.

Try it yourself

Ask an AI assistant to explain a topic you already understand. Compare its explanation with a trusted source. Identify one thing it explained clearly, one thing it omitted, and one claim that needed verification.

What to remember

Treat AI as a tool, not a substitute for judgment. Ask where information came from and check important claims against primary sources.

Further reading

Elements of AI: https://www.elementsofai.com/
NIST AI Risk Management Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework