INTRODUCTION TO

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
By – Ankit Gupta
INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

■ Introduction to AI
■ Why AI in today’s tech World
■ Definition of AI
■ Characteristics of AI
■ Applications of AI
■ Some Terminology of AI
Introduction to AI
■ AI is one of the newest fields in science and engineering. Work started in earnest soon
after World War II Artificial Intelligence is concerned with the design of intelligence in
an artificial device. The term was coined by John McCarthy in 1956.
■ Intelligence is the ability to acquire, understand and apply the knowledge to achieve
goals in the world.
■ AI is the study of the mental faculties through the use of computational models
■ AI is the study of intellectual/mental processes as computational processes.
■ AI program will demonstrate a high level of intelligence to a degree that equals or
exceeds the intelligence required of a human in performing some task.
■ AI is unique, sharing borders with Mathematics, Computer Science, Philosophy,
Psychology, Biology, Cognitive Science and many others.
■ Although there is no clear definition of AI or even Intelligence, it can be described as an
attempt to build machines that like humans can think and act, able to learn and use
knowledge to solve problems on their own.
■ The field of artificial intelligence, or AI, Artificial intelligence is concerned with not just
understanding but also building intelligent entities—machines that can compute how to act
effectively and safely in a wide variety of novel situations.
■ AI currently encompasses a huge variety of subfields, ranging from the general (learning,
reasoning, perception, and so on) to the specific, such as playing chess, proving mathematical
theorems, writing poetry, driving a car, or diagnosing diseases. AI is relevant to any intellectual
task; it is truly a universal field.

Definition of AI
■ We have claimed that AI is exciting, but we have not said what it is. In Figure 1.1 we see eight
definitions of AI, laid out along two dimensions. The definitions on top are concerned with
thought processes and reasoning, whereas the ones on the bottom address behavior. The
definitions on the left measure success in terms of fidelity to human performance, whereas the
ones on the right measure against an ideal performance measure, called rationality. A system is
rational if it does the “right thing,” given what it knows.
Historically, all four approaches to AI have been followed, each by different people with
different methods. A human-centered approach must be in part an empirical science, in volving
observations and hypotheses about human behavior. A rationalist approach involves a
combination of mathematics and engineering. The various group have both disparaged and
helped each other. Let us look at the four approaches in more detail.
1.1.1 Acting humanly: The Turing test approach

The Turing test, proposed by Alan Turing (1950), was designed as a thought
experiment that would sidestep the philosophical vagueness of the question “Can a
machine think?” A computer passes the test if a human interrogator, after posing
some written questions, cannot tell whether the written responses come from a
person or from a computer.
For now, we note that programming a computer to pass a rigorously applied test provides plenty to
work on. The computer would need to possess the following capabilities:
• natural language processing to enable it to communicate successfully in English;
• knowledge representation to store what it knows or hears;
• automated reasoning to use the stored information to answer questions and to draw new
conclusions;
• machine learning to adapt to new circumstances and to detect and extrapolate patterns.
Turing viewed the physical simulation of a person as unnecessary to demonstrate intelligence.
However, other researchers have proposed a total Turing test, which requires interaction with
objects and people in the real world. To pass the total Turing test, a robot will need

• computer vision and speech recognition to perceive the world;

• robotics to manipulate objects and move about.
These six disciplines compose most of AI. Yet AI researchers have devoted little effort to passing
the Turing test, believing that it is more important to study the underlying principles of
intelligence. The quest for “artificial flight” succeeded when engineers and inventors stopped
imitating birds and started using wind tunnels and learning about aerodynamics. Aeronautical
engineering texts do not define the goal of their field as making “machines that fly so exactly like
pigeons that they can fool even other pigeons.”
1.1.2 Thinking humanly: The cognitive modeling approach
To say that a program thinks like a human, we must know how humans think. We can learn about
human thought in three ways:
• introspection—trying to catch our own thoughts as they go by;
• psychological experiments—observing a person in action;
• brain imaging—observing the brain in action.
Once we have a sufficiently precise theory of the mind, it becomes possible to express the theory
as a computer program.
The field of cognitive science brings together computer models from AI and experimental
techniques from psychology to construct precise and testable theories of the human mind.
1.1.3 Thinking rationally: The “laws of thought” approach

a. The study of mental faculties through the use of computational models; that it is, the study of
computations that make it possible to perceive reason and act.
b. Focus is on inference mechanisms that are probably correct and guarantee an optimal solution.
c. Goal is to formalize the reasoning process as a system of logical rules and procedures of
inference.
d. Develop systems of representation to allow inferences to be like “Socrates is a man. All men are
mortal. Therefore Socrates is mortal”
1.1.4 Acting rationally: The rational agent approach
Agent is something that acts.
Computer agent is expected to have following attributes:
■ Autonomous control
■ Perceiving their environment
■ Persisting over a prolonged period of time
■ Adapting to change
■ And capable of taking on another’s goal
Rational behavior: doing the right thing.
The right thing: that which is expected to maximize goal achievement, given the available
information.
Rational Agent is one that acts so as to achieve the best outcome or, when there is uncertainty, the
best expected outcome.
■ What Contributes to AI? / Foundation of AI
Artificial intelligence is a science and technology based on disciplines such as Computer
Science, Biology, Psychology, Linguistics, Mathematics, and Engineering. A major thrust of
AI is in the development of computer functions associated with human intelligence, such as
reasoning, learning, and problem solving.
Out of the following areas, one or multiple areas can contribute to build an intelligent
system.
■ Types of AI (Weak AI and Strong AI )
Furthermore, AI can also be classified into two main types which are Weak/Narrow AI or
Strong AI. Weak AI or Narrow AI are machines that are designed to give responses or answers
that were pre-determined. On the other hand, a Strong AI is a machine that almost mimics a
human being by performing tasks on its own with no pre-designed or pre-determined
responses incorporated within. The table below depicts the differences between a strong and a
weak AI
■ Goals of AI
Scientific Goal: To determine which ideas about knowledge representation, learning, rule
systems search, and so on, explain various sorts of real intelligence.

Engineering Goal: To solve real world problems using AI techniques such as Knowledge
representation, learning, rule systems, search, and so on.

Traditionally, computer scientists and engineers have been more interested in the engineering
goal, while psychologists, philosophers and cognitive scientists have been more interested in
the scientific goal.
Why AI in today’s tech World
1. Career Opportunities
AI is transforming various industries, and there is a growing demand for professionals who
possess AI skills and knowledge. Learning about AI can help individuals to develop in-
demand skills that can lead to exciting career opportunities in areas such as data science,
machine learning, and robotics.
2. Understanding Emerging Technologies
AI is an emerging technology that is rapidly evolving. Learning about AI can help
individuals to understand the current state of the technology and its potential impact on
various industries. This knowledge can help individuals to identify new opportunities for
innovation and growth.
3. Ethical Considerations
As AI becomes more prevalent, it is essential to consider the ethical implications of its use.
Learning about AI can help individuals to understand the potential risks and benefits of AI
and make informed decisions about its use. It can also help individuals to advocate for
ethical AI practices and ensure that AI is used in a responsible and transparent manner.
4. Improved Problem Solving
AI is often used to solve complex problems that would be challenging or impossible for
humans to solve. Learning about AI can help individuals to develop critical thinking and
problem-solving skills that can be applied to a wide range of fields.
5. Improved Decision-Making
AI can help businesses and individuals to make better decisions by analyzing vast amounts
of data and identifying patterns and trends. Learning about AI can help individuals to
understand how to use AI to improve decision-making and stay competitive in today's fast-
paced business environment.
In conclusion, learning about AI is essential in today's world. It can provide individuals with
in-demand skills, help them understand emerging technologies, consider ethical
implications, improve problem-solving skills, and enhance decision-making abilities. As AI
continues to evolve, learning about it will become even more critical to stay competitive in
the job market and succeed in various industries.
 Characteristics of AI
• Symbolic Reasoning: reasoning about objects represented by symbols, and their
properties and relationships, not just numerical calculations.

• Knowledge: General principles are stored in the program and used for reasoning about
novel situations.

• Search: a ``weak method'' for finding a solution to a problem when no directmethod

exists. Problem: combinatoric explosion of possibilities.

• Flexible Control: Direction of processing can be changed by changing facts in the

environment.
AI Problems

The AI problems are broadly categorized into three types of task that can be performed by

AI . We can say that these are the type of tasks which are the target work for AI.
Much of the early work in the field of AI focused on formal tasks, such as game playing and
theorem proving.
Game playing and theorem proving share the property that people who do them well are
considered to be displaying intelligence.
Initially computers could perform well at those tasks simply by being fast at exploring a large
number of solution paths and then selecting the best one.
Humans learn mundane (ordinary) tasks since their birth. They learn by perception, speaking,
using language, and training. They learn formal Tasks and Expert Tasks later.
Another early foray into AI focused on common sense reasoning, which includes reasoning about
physical objects and their relationship to each other, as well as reasoning about actions and their
consequences.
As AI research progressed, techniques for handling large amount of world knowledge were
developed.
New tasks reasonably attempted such as perception, natural language understanding and problem
solving in specialised domains.
■ Some of the task domains of artificial intelligence are presented in table below.

■ Later, it turned out that the machine requires more knowledge, complex knowledge
representation, and complicated algorithms for handling mundane tasks.
■ This is the reason why AI work is more flourishing in the Expert Tasks domain now, as the
expert task domain needs expert knowledge without common sense, which can be easier to
represent and handle.
Applications of AI
■ AI has applications in all fields of human study, such as finance and economics, environmental
engineering, chemistry, computer science, and so on. Some of the applications of AI are listed below:
■ Perception
– Machine vision
– Speech understanding
– Touch ( tactile or haptic) sensation
■ Robotics
■ Natural Language Processing
– Natural Language Understanding
– Speech Understanding
– Language Generation
– Machine Translation
■ Planning
■ Expert Systems
■ Machine Learning
■ Theorem Proving
■ Symbolic Mathematics
■ Game Playing
Some Terminology of AI
■ Artificial Intelligence is a study to make computers, robots, generally, machines think
how the intellect of humans works, think, learn when it solves any problem. This will
affect software systems that are more intelligent than usual. The main objective of
Artificial Intelligence is to enhance computer functions that are related to natural
knowledge, for illustration, logic, knowledge, and problem-answering.
■ The purposes of AI study are logic, knowledge representation, planning, knowledge,
natural language processing, actualization, and the capability to move and manipulate
objects. There are long-term intentions in the general intelligence sector. Approaches
include statistical approaches, computational intelligence, and traditional coding AI.
During the AI study related to hunting and precise optimization, artificial neural
networks, and methodologies grounded on statistics, probability, and economics, we use
numerous tools. Computer knowledge attracts AI in the field of science, mathematics,
psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and so on.
List of frequently used terms in the domain of AI
■ Agent
An artificial intelligence (AI) agent is a software program that can interact with its environment,
collect data, and use the data to perform self-determined tasks to meet predetermined goals. Humans
set goals, but an AI agent independently chooses the best actions it needs to perform to achieve
those goals. For example, consider a contact center AI agent that wants to resolves customer
queries. The agent will automatically ask the customer different questions, look up information in
internal documents, and respond with a solution. Based on the customer responses, it determines if
it can resolve the query itself or pass it on to a human.
■ Automata Theory
Automata theory is a branch of computer science that studies abstract machines and the
computational problems that can be solved using them. The theory has been used to develop a wide
range of applications, from computer science and mathematics to engineering, biology, and physics.
However, like any scientific theory, automata theory has its limitations and applications that are
worth exploring.
Automata theory is used in artificial intelligence to model and analyze the behavior of intelligent
systems. This includes modeling the decision-making process and identifying potential issues.
■ Autonomous Robot
Autonomous robots are advanced machines capable of performing tasks and making decisions
without human intervention, relying heavily on artificial intelligence, sensors, and computational
systems. These robots are equipped with various sensors and actuators that allow them to perceive
their environment, process information, and execute actions to achieve specific goals.
In manufacturing, autonomous robots are used for tasks such as assembly, welding, and material
handling. These robots can work alongside humans to increase productivity and reduce the risk of
injury in hazardous environments. For instance, an autonomous robotic arm can precisely place
components on an assembly line, adjusting its movements in real-time to accommodate variations in
part sizes or positions.
■ Autonomous car
A vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and moving with little or no human input.
■ Backward Chaining
Backward-chaining is also known as a backward deduction or backward reasoning method
when using an inference engine. A backward chaining algorithm is a form of reasoning, which
starts with the goal and works backward, chaining through rules to find known facts that
support the goal.
In backward chaining, the goal is broken into sub-goal or sub-goals to prove the facts true.
It is called a goal-driven approach, as a list of goals decides which rules are selected and used
■ Blackboard
A blackboard system in AI is a problem-solving architecture that facilitates cooperative processing
among multiple knowledge sources. It's based on the metaphor of a group of experts working together
on a blackboard, each contributing their expertise to solve a part of the problem.
■ Environment
Environment is the place where the agent is going to work. In general, Environment gives possible
rewards, states, actions to the agents.
Example -

■ Forward Chaining
Forward chaining is also known as a forward deduction or forward reasoning method when using an
inference engine. Forward chaining is a form of reasoning which start with atomic sentences in the
knowledge base and applies inference rules (Modus Ponens) in the forward direction to extract more
data until a goal is reached.
The Forward-chaining algorithm starts from known facts, triggers all rules whose premises are
satisfied, and add their conclusion to the known facts. This process repeats until the problem is solved.
It is a down-up approach, as it moves from bottom to top.
It is a process of making a conclusion based on known facts or data, by starting from the initial state
and reaches the goal state.
Forward-chaining approach is also called as data-driven as we reach to the goal using available data.
Forward -chaining approach is commonly used in the expert system, such as CLIPS, business, and
production rule systems.
■ Heuristics
The idea of heuristic methods in AI is based on cognitive science, or the study of how
humans think. Indeed, humans use heuristics to make decisions and solve problems.
Likewise, heuristic algorithms are often used in AI to get a computer to find an
approximate solution instead of an exact solution.
Example – Travelling Salesperson Problem
■ Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge engineering is a field of artificial intelligence (AI) that creates rules to
apply to data to imitate the thought process of a human expert. It looks at the structure
of a task or a decision to identify how a conclusion is reached.
For example, financial expert systems provide advice on investment decisions,
portfolio management and risk assessment. Creates decision-support systems
■ Percepts
It’s the format in which the agent obtains information about the surroundings.
A percept is detected by a sensor, often a camera, processed accordingly, and acted
upon by an actuator.
■ Pruning
Pruning in Artificial Intelligence is removing the nodes from the model to reach a
better solution. Pruning is blocking the leaf nodes and removing the entire sub-tree to
increase prediction accuracy by reduces the overfitting. Alpha-beta pruning that is
similar to the min-max algorithm is the most used pruning algorithm in Artificial
intelligence.
■ Rule
It’s a format of representing knowledge base in Expert System. It’s in the form of IF-
THEN-ELSE.
■ Task
It’s the aim the agent is trying to achieve.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence
■ Artificial intelligence is difficult for beginners, yet it offers great opportunities to develop intelligent machines that can
turn computer science on its head.
■ Reduce human errors and perform various tasks with greater efficiency using intelligent systems.
■ Intelligent systems can perform challenging tasks that are beyond human reach. Foreign currency; Explore the ocean and
perform various difficult, painstaking tasks with ease.
■ A lot of applications have been developed using Artificial Intelligence. iPhones, Siri and Microsoft Cortana, evolved on
the phenomenon of artificial intelligence. These are interactive robots that help you access the smartphone.
■ With the help of artificial intelligence technology, a digital assistant can be developed, which reduces the number of
employees. These assistants can do the job with amazing efficiency.
■ Radiosurgery has been used in the medical field for tumor treatments developed using artificial intelligence.
■ Use artificial intelligence and improve your products' productivity, efficiency, and accuracy.
Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence
■ Artificial intelligence looks promising, and it is quite futuristic. It is gradually being implemented in many areas. There are
many drawbacks of Artificial Intelligence which are;
■ Artificial Intelligence is slowly making its way into real-time applications. AI offers a lot of possibilities, but it is really
expensive. Smaller organizations cannot afford the high-end machines, softwares, and resources required to implement AI.
■ Artificial intelligence systems can replace humans in performing tasks in terms of productivity, but they cannot make
decisions. Robots cannot decide what is right and what is wrong.
■ With intelligent systems, you won't get creative with everyday experience. Human beings display creative ideas with
everyday experience.
■ Replacing humans with intelligent systems can increase unemployment which leads to poor GDP.
What are some common AI use cases in business?
■ Customer Service Automation: Utilizing chatbots and virtual assistants to handle customer inquiries and support.
■ Predictive Analytics: Leveraging AI to predict future trends and behaviors based on historical data.
■ Personalization: Customizing marketing messages, product recommendations, and content to individual user
preferences.
■ Fraud Detection: Analyzing transaction patterns to identify and prevent fraudulent activities.
■ Supply Chain Optimization: Improving logistics, inventory management, and delivery routes using AI algorithms.
■ Human Resources: Automating recruitment and identifying the best candidates using AI-driven tools.
■ Sales Forecasting: Using AI to predict future sales and adjust strategies accordingly.
■ Maintenance Prediction: Implementing predictive maintenance in manufacturing to foresee machinery failures.
■ Sentiment Analysis: Analyzing customer feedback and social media to gauge brand sentiment.
■ Content Creation: Generating written content, images, or videos for marketing or other purposes.
■ Market Research: Automating the collection and analysis of market data to inform business decisions.
■ Health and Safety Monitoring: Using AI to monitor workplace environments to ensure health and safety compliance.
■ Financial Analysis: Automating financial reports, investment analysis, and risk assessment.
■ Quality Control: Employing image recognition technologies to detect defects and ensure product quality.
■ Voice Recognition: Implementing voice-activated commands for various services and internal business processes.