CCU: Lesson - What is Artificial Intelligence?

A group of middle school students work together to build a robot.What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Think About It...

As we begin our first lesson, ask yourself a few questions:

  • Have you used AI in any context?
    • If yes: How did you use AI?
    • If no: What might you use AI for in the future?
  • What do you see as AI's role in society now? In the future?

Maybe you haven't thought much about AI up to this point, but there is no doubt that this technology, in all its forms, will impact us. It already is!

Within the next 5 -10 years, how we interact/engage with technology will look, feel, and sound a lot different than our present day experiences. Truthfully, the primary and fundamental experiences of the transition are happening right now … at this very moment.

It does not matter whether a person believes AI is good, bad, right, wrong, significant, or not, we will all be impacted and affected either directly and/ or indirectly by the innovative solutions AI offers in every facet of life including agriculture, transportation, healthcare, public safety, music, sports, education, home ownership, finance, space, and so much more.

The aim of this course is to create an awareness and understanding of what AI actually is, the ‘Five Big Ideas of AI’, modern examples and uses of AI, and societal impacts of AI.

What Is AI? - A Definition

When you hear the words ‘Artificial Intelligence’ what do you visualize?

Some may see a mental picture of a traditional robot, self-driving car, while others may envision things or tools that may not even exist today. Our imagination and creativity are the fundamental building blocks of our current innovations as well as our future creations and technological integrations. A quick search of the internet may provide various definitions of what AI is.

For the purpose of this course, we will define AI as a branch of computer science concerned with techniques for getting computers to do things that normally require human intelligence to do (e.g., decision-making, problem-solving, planning). This definition provides a clear way of identifying and classifying AI.

AI-enabled technologies use AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms and data to make it “smart” or “intelligent”. While there are countless ways in which we could approach our understanding of AI, we will begin with an overview of the ‘Five Big Ideas of AI’ and descriptions of some common terminology used in the sphere of Artificial Intelligence. Let’s dive in to the ‘Five Big Ideas of AI.’

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