What Is Artificial Intelligence? — lecture notes
A clear, visual introduction: what AI is, how modern AI learns from data, and how AI, machine learning and deep learning fit together.
0:001. Introduction
Welcome to AI in Motion. In this first lesson we answer a simple question: what exactly is artificial intelligence? No jargon, just pictures.
0:102. Definition
Artificial intelligence is the science of building computer systems that do things we normally link with human intelligence. Seeing, understanding language, reasoning, planning and learning.
0:223. The family tree
These terms are nested circles. Artificial intelligence is the whole field. Machine learning is the part that learns from data. Deep learning uses many-layered neural networks. And generative AI, like chatbots and image generators, sits inside deep learning.
0:384. Rules vs learning
Early AI relied on rules written by human experts. That works for tidy problems, but real life is messy. Modern AI mostly learns from examples instead, finding the patterns itself.
0:515. The learning loop
Most modern AI follows a loop. Collect data. Train a model on it. Use the model to make predictions on new inputs. Then use feedback and fresh data to improve it again.
1:066. Narrow vs general
All the AI we use today is narrow AI. It can be superhuman at one kind of task, but it cannot do everything a person can. General AI, matching humans at any task, does not exist yet.
1:227. Recap
To recap. AI is the broad goal. Machine learning learns from data. Deep learning uses deep neural networks. And every AI system today is narrow, brilliant at specific tasks.
Key takeaways
- AI builds systems that perform tasks associated with human intelligence.
- Machine learning is the part of AI that learns from data; deep learning uses deep neural networks.
- Modern AI mostly learns from examples rather than hand-written rules.
- All AI in use today is narrow AI.
Check yourself
- Which statement about AI, ML and deep learning is correct?
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Machine learning is a subset of AI, and deep learning is a subset of machine learning — They are nested: AI ⊃ machine learning ⊃ deep learning.
- How do most modern AI systems gain their abilities?
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By learning patterns from example data — Modern AI mostly learns from large amounts of example data.
- A face-unlock feature on a phone is an example of…
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Narrow AI — It does one task very well — that is narrow AI.
Go deeper
- What Is Artificial Intelligence? A Rigorous Introduction · The AI Lecture Hall
- The Landscape of Modern AI: A Map for Students · The AI Lecture Hall
- Narrow AI, General AI and Superintelligence: Separating Science from Speculation · The AI Lecture Hall
© 2026 Janin A Apurba, CSE, AUST · Advanced ICT Officer, CNRS-UNHCR. All rights reserved. Notes for the animated lecture at https://ai-in-motion.vercel.app/watch/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html