What is AI?
By the end of this lesson you will be able to explain what artificial intelligence actually is — in plain language — to anyone who asks.
Understand what AI actually is
When most people hear "artificial intelligence" they think of robots taking over the world. That is not what AI is. AI is software — a computer program — that has been trained on huge amounts of data. It finds patterns in that data and uses those patterns to make predictions. When you use Google Maps and it predicts traffic, that is AI. When TikTok knows exactly which video to show you next, that is AI. When Spotify suggests a song you will love, that is AI. AI is already in almost every app on your phone.
Learn how AI learns
AI learns from examples, the same way you do. If you want to teach a child what a cat is, you show them thousands of pictures of cats. Eventually they can recognise a cat they have never seen before. AI works the same way — just with millions of examples and millions of calculations instead of thousands. The more data an AI is trained on, the better it gets. ChatGPT was trained on almost the entire internet. That is why it knows so much.
See why AI is a tool, not a replacement
The biggest fear people have about AI is that it will take their jobs. Some jobs will change because of AI. But every tool in history — from calculators to computers — changed jobs without eliminating the people who knew how to use those tools. The accountants who learned to use calculators became more valuable. The writers who learned to use word processors became more productive. The people who learn to use AI today will be ahead of everyone who waits. That person can be you.
List 5 apps on your phone right now. For each one, think about where AI might be used inside it. Music app? Probably AI in the recommendations. Camera? Probably AI in the portrait mode and scene detection. Social media? Definitely AI in the feed algorithm. AI is already everywhere around you.