Welcome to AI Topics
a dynamic library of introductory information about Artificial Intelligence
 
click here to jump directly to Good Places to Start
Ever since computers were invented, it has been natural to wonder whether they might be able to learn. Imagine computers learning from medical records to discover emerging trends in the spread and treatment of new diseases, houses learning from experience to optimize energy costs based on the particular usage patterns of their occupants, or personal software assistants learning the evolving interests of their users to highlight especially relevant stories from the online morning newspaper.
- Tom M. Mitchell

This is a special web site provided by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence [AAAI] for students, teachers, journalists, and everyone who would like to learn about what artificial intelligence is, and what AI scientists do.

Our goal is to offer a limited number of exemplary, non-technical resources that we have organized and annotated to provide you with meaningful access to basic, understandable information about the AI universe. Each of the AI Topics (see the pull-down menu above) will lead you to online sources of information, and the occasional print resource. To understand what you can (and cannot) expect from this site and to maximize its usefulness, we ask that you please read our Springboard page.

As you explore these pages you'll also discover something that you may not have expected, which is that the science of AI is not just about computers. As hinted at in the two sentences from Tom Mitchell that begin where his quote at the top of this page ended, it's also about you: "A successful understanding of how to make computers learn would open up many new uses for computers. And a detailed understanding of information processing algorithms for machine learning might lead to better understanding of human learning abilities (and disabilities) as well."

Please read our Notices & Disclaimers page for important information about this web site and its use. And if you want to reformat or translate a page, we offer links to various tools on our Format page.

Fun & Interesting

(P.S. Don't even think of clicking on the apple tree that's growing at the top of this, or any, page !!! )

Here's the article from which the quote that appears at the top of this page was taken:

Does Machine Learning Really Work? By Tom M. Mitchell (1997). AI Magazine, 18(3): 11-20. "Yes. Over the past decade, machine learning has evolved from a field of laboratory demonstrations to a field of significant commercial value. ... This article, based on the keynote talk presented at the Thirteenth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, samples a number of recent accomplishments in machine learning and looks at where the field might be headed." (from our Machine Learning page)