Is this AI? We drew you a flowchart to work it out | Intelligent Machines - MIT Technology Review

Karen Hao, artificial intelligence reporter for MIT Technology Review explains, The definition of artificial intelligence is constantly evolving, and the term often gets mangled, so we are here to help.

A back-of-the-envelope explainer.
Photo: Karen Hao

What is AI, exactly? The question may seem basic, but the answer is kind of complicated.

In the broadest sense, AI refers to machines that can learn, reason, and act for themselves. They can make their own decisions when faced with new situations, in the same way that humans and animals can.

As it currently stands, the vast majority of the AI advancements and applications you hear about refer to a category of algorithms known as machine learning. These algorithms use statistics to find patterns in massive amounts of data. They then use those patterns to make predictions on things like what shows you might like on Netflix, what you’re saying when you speak to Alexa, or whether you have cancer based on your MRI.

Machine learning, and its subset deep learning (basically machine learning on steroids), is incredibly powerful. It is the basis of many major breakthroughs, including facial recognition, hyper-realistic photo and voice synthesis, and AlphaGo, the program that beat the best human player in the complex game of Go. But it is also just a tiny fraction of what AI could be.

To clear things up, I drew you this flowchart on the back of an envelope so you can work out whether something is using AI or not.
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Source: MIT Technology Review