Lecture 1: The Foundations of AI

Lecture Objectives:

By the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

1. Define Artificial Intelligence (AI) and understand its core goal.
2. Differentiate between narrow, general, and superintelligent AI.
3. Identify key milestones in the history of AI.
4. Understand the basic structure of an AI system.
5. Grasp the difference between AI, machine learning, and deep learning.

I. What Is AI?

Definition:

Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think, learn, and make decisions.

Core Capabilities:

• Learning
• Reasoning
• Perception
• Language Understanding
• Decision Making

II. Types of AI

1. Narrow AI (Weak AI)

• Specialized in a single task (e.g., Siri, spam filters)
• Most current AI falls under this category.

2. General AI (AGI)

• Can perform any intellectual task a human can.
• Still theoretical, under research.

3. Superintelligent AI

• Hypothetical AI surpassing human intelligence.
• Subject of future ethics and safety concerns.

III. A Brief History of AI (Timeline)

IV. Components of an AI System

1. Data Input (Text, Image, Video, Sensor)
2. Model/Algorithm (Learns patterns)
3. Training Process (Optimization and feedback)
4. Inference (Using the trained model to predict or decide)
5. Output/Decision (Action or result)

Diagrams :

Drawing Idea #1:

AI System Block Diagram

+------------+    +------------+    +-----------+    +------------+
|  Raw Data  | -> |  Training  | -> |  Model    | -> | Prediction |
+------------+    +------------+    +-----------+    +------------+

Drawing Idea #2:

Types of AI Pyramid

Superintelligent AI
         (Theoretical)
         ----------------
           General AI
          (Still research)
         ----------------
             Narrow AI
       (Real-world examples)

V. AI vs. ML vs. DL

Mini Summary

• AI is the field focused on making machines intelligent.
• There are 3 types of AI: Narrow, General, and Superintelligent.
• AI includes ML and DL as subfields.
• Modern AI builds on decades of research and engineering progress.

Discussion :

• Which AI systems have you interacted with today?
• Do you think General AI will be achieved in our lifetime?
• How should we prepare ethically for superintelligent AI?

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