What is artificial intelligence ?

 What is artificial intelligence? And how does it work?

In an era where technological advancements are accelerating at an astonishing pace, the term "artificial intelligence" has become ubiquitous, from smartphones to cars and from heavy industries to entertainment applications. With this widespread presence, it has become essential to understand what artificial intelligence truly is, how it works, and why it is considered one of the most impactful achievements of the 21st century.

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is a field of computer science that aims to enable machines and software to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Such as understanding, thinking, learning from experiences, solving problems, and making decisions. The goal is not only to perform tasks but to do so efficiently and perhaps even surpass humans in some cases.

When we listen to a voice assistant like Siri or Google Assistant, or when we see how Netflix or YouTube suggests what we like to watch with astonishing accuracy, we are practically dealing with systems that rely on artificial intelligence.

But artificial intelligence is not just smart programs; it is a comprehensive system of algorithms, data, and statistical models that enable it to learn and make decisions based on data analysis.

How does artificial intelligence work?

To understand how artificial intelligence works, let's start with a simple idea: learning from experience. Just as a child learns to distinguish between animals after seeing them several times, artificial intelligence learns through massive amounts of data that are inputted, processed, and analyzed.

One of the most famous branches of artificial intelligence is "machine learning," a technique that allows systems to learn and gradually improve their performance without being directly programmed for each case. This is done by training the system on vast amounts of data.

     A simple example: If we want to train a system to recognize faces in images, we provide it with thousands of images containing human faces and other images that do not contain faces. The system analyzes the common features between the images, such as the positions of the eyes, the shape of the nose, the distribution of shadows, and so on. After the training phase, it becomes capable of recognizing new faces that it has never seen before, based on what it has learned previously.

There are also what are known as "artificial neural networks," which are inspired by the way the human brain works. They consist of interconnected layers of "neurons" that process information and send signals between them to form complex decisions.

Types of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be classified into three main types, based on its capabilities and level of complexity:

   1. Narrow AI: This is the dominant type today, used to perform specific tasks with precision and efficiency. Like machine translation, smart recommendations, image recognition, industrial robot control, and more. But it is limited within a certain scope and cannot perform tasks outside this scope.

   2. General AI: It is largely a theoretical type so far, and it aims to enable machines to perform any intellectual task that a human can do. Meaning that this type will have the ability to learn and adapt in multiple fields, with the same flexibility as a human.

   3. Super AI: It is the stage where artificial intelligence may surpass humans in almost all mental tasks, including creativity, planning, and complex decision-making. This level has not yet been achieved, but it is widely discussed among researchers and thinkers.

Applications of artificial intelligence in our lives

Artificial intelligence today is infiltrating the details of our lives more than we can imagine. Here are some examples:

        In medicine, hospitals use artificial intelligence systems to analyze X-ray images and detect tumors and diseases with accuracy that sometimes surpasses that of doctors, especially in early cases.

        In the industry, car and aviation factories rely on smart robots that perform precise and repetitive tasks efficiently and quickly.

        In education, some educational platforms have started using artificial intelligence to provide personalized learning experiences according to each student's level and interests.

        In marketing, intelligent systems analyze online user behavior and use this data to deliver accurate and personalized advertisements.

        In translation and language, tools like Google Translate and DeepL have developed tremendously thanks to artificial intelligence technologies, and they now translate context, not just words.

Are there concerns about artificial intelligence?

Despite the enormous benefits, there are legitimate concerns about artificial intelligence. Among the most prominent are

         Privacy: Because artificial intelligence relies on collecting and analyzing massive amounts of data, there are concerns about the unethical use of this data.

         Bias: If the data used to train artificial intelligence is biased, it may result in unfair decisions, especially in employment or criminal justice.

         Unemployment: With the increasing reliance on smart systems, some traditional jobs may be eliminated, creating economic and social challenges.

         Control: What if artificial intelligence becomes so powerful that it is difficult to control? This question raises an ongoing philosophical and ethical debate.

In conclusion

Artificial intelligence is not just a passing technology; it is a revolution reshaping the way we interact with the world. While it holds great promise for improving our lives, it also calls for awareness and responsibility in its use and development. Understanding this field is no longer exclusive to programmers and engineers; it has become essential for everyone to know how it works and where it is headed, because, simply put, it will be part of our future, whether we like it or not.