Unit I · Introduction to AI Tools
1. What is AI?
A simple definition
AI means Artificial Intelligence. Artificial means made by humans. Intelligence means the ability to learn, understand and solve problems.
So AI is a computer program that can do things which normally need human intelligence. For example:
- Understanding your voice when you say "Ok Google".
- Finding your friend's face in a photo.
- Suggesting the next video on YouTube.
- Finding the fastest route from Gajuwaka to RK Beach on Google Maps.
- Writing an email when you give it a few words.
A normal program follows fixed rules written by a programmer. An AI program learns from examples. This is the big difference.
A short background
AI is not new. Here is a very short history.
- 1950: Alan Turing asked, "Can machines think?" He suggested a test. If a machine can chat like a human, we can call it intelligent.
- 1956: The name "Artificial Intelligence" was used for the first time at a meeting in Dartmouth, USA.
- 1960s to 1980s: Early AI used rules written by experts. It worked for small problems. It failed for big ones. People lost interest. This time is called the "AI winter".
- 1997: IBM's Deep Blue computer beat the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov.
- 2012: A new method called deep learning became very good at seeing images. AI started to grow fast.
- 2017: Google researchers made the Transformer. This is the design used by ChatGPT and Gemini today.
- 2022: ChatGPT was released. In two months, 100 million people used it. This started the Generative AI wave.
- Today: AI can write, draw, talk, code and even make videos.
Three kinds of AI
| Kind | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow AI | Does one job well | Google Maps, spam filter, face unlock |
| Generative AI | Creates new text, images, audio or code | ChatGPT, Gemini |
| General AI (AGI) | Can do any task a human can do | Does not exist yet |
All the AI we use today is narrow AI or generative AI. AGI is still a dream.
Why should an engineer learn AI tools?
You will use AI tools in every branch. A civil engineer can ask AI to check a report. A mechanical engineer can ask AI to write a Python script to read sensor data. A chemical engineer can ask AI to explain a reaction. AI tools are like a calculator. They do not replace you. They make you faster.
Try it
- Open chatgpt.com or gemini.google.com. Type: "Explain AI to a first year engineering student in Visakhapatnam in 5 simple sentences."
- Ask the same tool: "Give 5 examples of AI that I use every day on my phone."
- Watch this short video: What is AI? – CrashCourse.
New words
- Artificial — made by humans, not natural.
- Intelligence — the ability to learn, understand and solve problems.
- Program — a set of instructions that a computer follows.
- Rule — a fixed instruction like "if X then do Y".
- Deep learning — a way for computers to learn from a lot of examples, using many layers of maths.
- Transformer — the design (architecture) used inside ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Narrow AI — AI that does only one kind of job.
- AGI — Artificial General Intelligence; an AI that can do anything a human can. Not real yet.