What is Artificial Intelligence?

Definition: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the field of building computer systems that can do tasks normally requiring human intelligence — understanding language, recognising images, making decisions, and learning from experience.

AI is not a single technology. It is a broad goal — making machines act "smart" — pursued through many techniques. When your phone recognises your face, your email filters spam, or a chatbot answers a question, that is AI at work.

AI is already all around you

• Recommendations on Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify
• Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa
• Navigation apps predicting traffic
• Spam filters and fraud detection
• Chatbots and tools like ChatGPT

Why is AI everywhere now?

AI ideas are decades old, but three things made it explode recently: huge amounts of data, powerful and cheap computing, and better algorithms. Together they let machines do things that seemed impossible just a few years ago.

💡 This course is non-technical — no maths or coding. By the end you will understand what AI is, what it can and cannot do, and how it affects work and society.