The difference between AI and machine learning

Introduction

Some people use the terms “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. To put it simply, artificial intelligence is a broad computer science concept that encompasses the idea of machines displaying cognitive abilities. These abilities range from visual perception and speech recognition to decision-making. Think anything from Amazon’s Alexa to Hanson’s Robotics’ Sophia.

Machine learning, on the other hand, is only one of the applications (or subfields) of AI. It’s the ability of the machine, or technically software, to “learn” by extracting insights from data, without specific programming. One example is IBM’s Watson “collaborating” with a human to create a Lexus commercial.

The field of artificial intelligence

The idea of artificial intelligence dates back as far as ancient Greece and Egypt. In modern times five scientists, including MIT cognitive scientists Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy, are considered the founding fathers of the discipline, coining the term AI in the mid-1950s.

But even before them, several other scientists contributed to the idea. They included math genius Alan Turing, who suggested building intelligent machines to solve problems and make decisions using available information and reasoning.

In the past six decades, AI has had highs and lows, but today’s resurgence seems to have staying power. It’s largely because computing power has finally developed to the point of being able to handle massive amounts of data, making AI applications feasible.

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Sponsorships Available

The tech giants — Google, Amazon, Apple and the like — are the heaviest investors in AI applications, pouring billions of dollars into it. McKinsey Global Institute estimated that internal investment in 2016 totaled around $18 billion to $27 billion. AI technology is now used for everything from powering virtual assistants, shopping sites and chatbots to curating your social media feeds, analyzing medical lab results and enabling smart (Read more...)