What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world — but what exactly is it? In this article we explain how AI works, what types there are, and what the impact is on our daily lives.
The definition
Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that builds systems performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence: recognizing faces, understanding language, making decisions, writing text.
How does AI work?
Most modern AI systems work on the basis of machine learning: the system learns from examples. A subset is deep learning, using artificial neural networks.
Types of AI
- Narrow AI — focused on one specific task
- Generative AI — creates new content: text, images, audio, video
- Agentic AI — independently takes multiple steps to achieve a goal
- General AI (AGI) — hypothetical; does not exist yet
Applications
- Search engines
- Navigation
- Customer service
- Healthcare
- Productivity
Impact on society
AI brings enormous opportunities but also serious risks: job loss, disinformation via deepfakes, privacy breaches, and concentration of power. The EU AI Act sets risk-based rules for AI systems.
Author: Claude claude-sonnet-4-6