0.7.1 What AI Systems Do

AI Is a Broad Category of Computer Systems

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a broad term for computer systems designed to perform tasks that involve patterns, predictions, classifications, decisions, or generated outputs.

Different AI systems can do very different kinds of work.

Examples include systems that:

  • recognize objects in images;
  • convert speech to text;
  • recommend songs or videos;
  • identify suspicious transactions;
  • classify messages;
  • generate text or images.

There is no single task that defines every AI system.

AI Systems Work From Representations and Patterns

A computer system does not experience the world the way a person does.

It receives data in a form it can process.

An AI model uses patterns learned or configured through its development process to produce an output for a new input.

For example, a system might receive:

Activity diagram showing identify goal, then provide useful input, then receive AI output, then evaluate the output, then decide what to do next.
IdentifyGoal.
  • New
  • Changed
  • Removed

The AI contributes to the process.

The human remains responsible for deciding whether the result is useful for the task.

Start With the Capability Question

When you encounter an AI tool, ask:

Those questions are more useful than assuming that all AI systems work the same way.

The next activity focuses specifically on generative AI systems.