What is AI? AI is short for artificial intelligence. It means machines and computer programs that copy smart things that people do, like making guesses and picking what to do. AI helps phones understand the words that people say out loud. It is also used in apps that change words from one language into another.

How does an AI learn? Many AI programs learn by looking at lots of examples. People label pictures as dogs. What an AI learns from is called training data. It usually needs a very large amount to work well. A spam filter sorts junk email from email you want. Many of them learn how from examples.

Machine learning is one way to make AI. The computer finds patterns in data. In supervised learning, people have already labeled the examples. In unsupervised learning, the data has no labels, and the program looks for patterns. Computers can be good at some jobs that are hard for people. One is looking through huge amounts of data very fast.

An AI does not think the way a person does. AI can make mistakes and can say things that are not true. AI chatbots can make up facts. They can even make up the sources they name. AI can be wrong even when it sounds sure. An answer that sounds sure is not proof. A chatbot may not know about very recent events. It can only use what it learned from.

People should check what an AI tells them before they trust it. A good way to check is to open a new tab. Then look the facts up on other reliable pages. This is called lateral reading. If a chatbot names a book, search to check that it is real. An AI should not be asked to check its own work. A person should look for outside sources.

Words to know

• supervised: trained on labels
• unsupervised: learning without labels
• chatbots: talking AI programs
• lateral: sideways checking
• spam: junk email

The short version

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is machines and computer programs that can imitate smart human behavior, such as making predictions and decisions. Many AI programs learn by looking at lots of examples. AI can make mistakes and can say things that are not true, so people should check what an AI tells them.

Quick facts

• Many AI programs learn by looking at lots of examples, such as pictures that people have labeled as dogs.
• The information that an AI program learns from is called training data.
• An AI program usually needs a very large amount of training data to work well.
• AI chatbots can make up facts and even make up the sources they name.
• A good way to check an AI answer is to open a new tab and look the facts up on other reliable pages.