WHAT IS AI?

By: Khalif Barkhadle,
Digital Journalist

Published On:9th November 2024

Artificial intelligence is “a technical and scientific field devoted to the engineered system that generates outputs such as content, forecasts, recommendations or decisions for a given set of human-defined objectives” [ISO/IEC 22989:2022]. While this definition of artificial intelligence is accurate from the technical perspective, how does it translate for the average person?

In truth, AI is just a practical tool, not a panacea. It’s only as good as the algorithms and machine learning techniques that guide its actions. AI can get really good at performing a specific task, but it takes tonnes of data and repetition. It simply learns to analyse large amounts of data, recognize patterns, and make predictions or decisions based on that data, continuously improving its performance over time.

Today, this AI meaning has evolved beyond mere data processing to include the development of machines capable of learning, reasoning and problem-solving. The machine learning has become so “competent” as to generate everything from software code to images, articles, videos and music. This is the next level of AI, the so-called generative AI, which differs from traditional AI in its capabilities and application. While traditional AI systems are primarily used to analyse data and make predictions, generative AI goes a step further by creating new data similar to its training data.
How does AI work?
In essence, AI…