Artificial intelligence

Definition

Computer systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and pattern recognition.

Etymology

Coined by computer scientist John McCarthy in 1956 at the Dartmouth Conference, combining 'artificial' from Latin 'artificialis' meaning 'made by art' with 'intelligence' from Latin 'intelligentia.' The concept built on earlier work by Alan Turing and others exploring machine thinking.

Kelly Says

AI has experienced multiple 'winters' and 'springs' since the 1950s, with current excitement driven by breakthroughs in deep learning and neural networks that finally deliver on decades-old promises. What's fascinating is that AI often works best when augmenting rather than replacing human intelligence, creating hybrid human-machine systems.

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