Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the ability of a computer system to carry out tasks that would normally require human thinking. These include understanding spoken or written language, recognising images, identifying patterns in large datasets, making decisions based on inputs, and generating content like text, images, or code.

The field has roots going back to the 1950s, when researchers began exploring whether machines could simulate reasoning. Modern AI is almost unrecognisably more capable than those early experiments. Today’s systems are trained on billions of examples and can perform at or above human level on specific, well-defined tasks.

It is important to understand that AI is not one thing. It is an umbrella term covering a wide range of technologies. A spam filter, a self-driving car system, a medical imaging tool, and a conversational chatbot are all AI, but they work in very different ways and serve very different purposes.

• Narrow AI: performs one specific task (e.g. face recognition, spam filtering)
• General AI: hypothetical systems with broad, human-like intelligence (not yet achieved)
• Generative AI: creates new content such as text, images, audio, and video

For business-specific applications, see: AI Tools for Business in South Africa

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