ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author attempts to give an overview of the field's goals, the techniques and methodologies which have evolved the field's existence, and some achievements to-date. Its existence Artificial Intelligence (AI) has pursued in parallel, several research goals; these can be summarised as: Building intelligent machines; Encoding in machine-manipulatable form human expertise; understanding human cognition. The first set of tasks have been approached by formulating mathematical models; the second set have been approached by AI which to-date has been concerned with symbolic models. Strange as it may seem search, systematic search, is one of AI's major techniques. AI has developed most fully deduction. Learning has been seen from the beginning of AI as a critical capability; if machines could not learn then AI's credibility would be questioned and moreover, its value as a technology would be greatly limited.
