Artificial Intelligence is branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior

in computers.
The term was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Artificial intelligence includes the following areas of specialization:
games playing: programming computers to play games against human opponents
expert systems: programming computers to make decisions in real-life situations (for
example, some expert systems help doctors diagnose diseases based on symptoms)
natural language: programming computers to understand natural human languages
neural networks: Systems that simulate intelligence by attempting to reproduce the types of
physical connections that occur in animal brains
Historical Attempts

Frankenstein
The original story, published by Mary Shelley, in 1818, describes the attempt of a true scientist,
Victor Frankenstein, to create life.

Joseph Faber
Joseph Faber's Amazing Talking Machine (1830-40's). The Euphonia and other early talking devices
are described in detail in a paper by David Lindsay called "Talking Head".

The Dartmouth Conference and the Name Artificial Intelligence

J. McCarthy, M. L. Minsky, N. Rochester, and C.E. Shannon. August 31, 1955.
"We propose that a 2 month, 10 man study of artificial intelligence be carried out during the summer
of 1956 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The study is to proceed on the basis of
the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so
precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it."

Uses & Effects of Artificial Intelligence on our Daily Life

The real success of AI is that most people are simply unaware of how significantly it affects and enables
the routines of daily life. A man gets up in the morning to the smell of coffee already brewing. This is
thanks to a microchip inside the coffee machine that allows him to program his coffeemaker to turn itself
on while he is still sleeping. Another microchip keeps his toast from burning and remembers which
setting from light to dark he likes best.
Computer Games:
Traditionally, AI computer programs have worked in the background, making sure that the digital
environment of forests, smoking volcanoes, and rambling paths run smoothly. But AI is also used to
make computer games more challenging for their human participants.
E-Commerce
Today a person does not have to get into a car to go shopping, thanks to sophisticated AI applications
and the Internet. In 1995 almost no businesses conducted their affairs over the Internet. By the year 2003
business-to-consumer sales on the Internet exceeded $100 billion & business-to-business sales were
more than $3 trillion.
When a person calls a company or logs on to a company's Web site, it is rare to actually contact a
human being. Instead many businesses are relying on automated help desks that use an artificial
intelligence system called case-based reasoning that works to match up the customer's problem to

similar problems stored in its memory. It can then adapt a solution that worked in the past to the current
problem.
Driving Intelligence
In the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Transportation introduced the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative as part
of the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century. Its mission is to look for ways to design cars
and trucks that would prevent accidents and fatalities on the road. AI labs around the country are
experimenting with all sorts of prototype AI systems, such as collision warning devices that use
computerized voice, sound, or light to alert the driver to a possible crash and voice-activated controls so
that the driver only has to push a single voice activation button on the steering wheel and command
"Radio on" or "Temperature seventy degrees." Heat-detecting devices similar to the military's night
vision systems would display infrared images on the windshield to warn drivers of an obstacle in their
path. Sensors on the front of the car would allow the cruise control to maintain a safe speed and distance
between vehicles by slowing or accelerating as needed. "Smart cars" already give drivers the ability to
navigate using the OnStar satellite system, which also automatically notifies emergency crews when an
airbag has been deployed. The 2004 Toyota Prius even has sensors that can unlock the door when the
driver's hands are full and help a driver safely back up into a parking space.
AI in Businesses:
AI is not just found in e-commerce. Expert systems help run most of the major businesses the world
over. Wal-Mart harnesses an expert system enhanced with an ANN to sift through the data of all the
sales at more than three thousand stores to find patterns and relationships between stores, products, and
customers. It can find the pattern in what sells and what does not faster than hundreds of human analysts
can. Expert systems even manage billions of dollars in the stock market.
The Digital Doctor
Expert systems are also used in medicine to help doctors diagnose patients. In a 1997 study researchers
concluded that medical students learn more than 47,000 facts and 29,000 concepts in just the first two
years of medical school. Ideally all of that knowledge can be programmed into an expert system.
Although Artificial intelligence has gone a far way inside our lives still there is not a single Computer or Robot
that exists with all thinking capabilities that humans have. As the term itself says Artificial, it refers to the
thoughts produced on simple logics and questioning. Complex logics are still out of the reach of Artificial
Intelligence. AI devices or robots are only able to do tasks for what they have been previously programmed for.