ABSTRACT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) fascinates, challenges and disturbs us. There are many voices in society that predict drastic changes that may come as a consequence of AI – a possible apocalypse or Eden on earth. However, only a few people truly understand what AI is, what it can do and what its limitations are.

Understanding Artificial Intelligence explains, through a straightforward narrative and amusing illustrations, how AI works. It is written for a non-specialist reader, adult or adolescent, who is interested in AI but is missing the key to understanding how it works. The author demystifies the creation of the so-called "intelligent" machine and explains the different methods that are used in AI. It presents new possibilities offered by algorithms and the difficulties that researchers, engineers and users face when building and using such algorithms. Each chapter allows the reader to discover a new aspect of AI and to become fully aware of the possibilities offered by this rich field.

chapter |2 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|9 pages

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Understanding What a Computer, an Algorithm, a Program, and, in Particular, an Artificial Intelligence Program Are

chapter 2|9 pages

The Turing Test

Understanding That It Is Difficult to Measure the Intelligence of Computers

chapter 3|6 pages

Why Is It So Difficult?

Understanding There Are Limitations to What a Machine Can Calculate

chapter 4|11 pages

Lost in the Woods

Understanding a First Principles of AI Method –Exploration

chapter 5|12 pages

Winning at Chess

Understanding How to Build Heuristics

chapter 6|8 pages

The Journey Continues

Understanding That One Graph Can Conceal Another

chapter 7|8 pages

Darwin 2.0

Understanding How to Explore Space as a Group

chapter 8|7 pages

Small but Strong

Understanding How Ants Find Their Way

chapter 9|9 pages

A Bit of Tidying Up

Understanding How a Machine Learns to Classify

chapter 10|9 pages

Taking an AI by the Hand

Understanding That a Good Example Is Often Better Than a Long Explanation

chapter 11|14 pages

Learning to Count

Understanding What Statistical Learning Is

chapter 12|8 pages

Learning to Read

Understanding What a Neural Network Is

chapter 13|8 pages

Learning as You Draw

Understanding What Deep Learning Is

chapter 14|10 pages

Winning at Go

Understanding What Reinforcement Learning Is

chapter 15|5 pages

Strong AI

Understanding AI’s Limitations

chapter 16|4 pages

Is There Cause for Concern?

Understanding That AI Can Be Misused

chapter 17|3 pages

To Infinity and Beyond!

Understanding That AI Has Good Days Ahead

chapter |5 pages

Even More AI!