Artificial Intelligence and Data
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a machine to do tasks that normally need human intelligence: learning, reasoning, understanding language, recognising images. The term was coined by John McCarthy (1956). The Turing Test (Alan Turing) asks whether a machine can pass as a human in conversation.
Branches
| Branch | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Machine Learning (ML) | Systems learn from data instead of fixed rules. |
| Supervised learning | Learns from labelled examples (spam or not spam). |
| Unsupervised learning | Finds patterns in unlabelled data (customer groups). |
| Reinforcement learning | Learns by reward and penalty (game-playing, robots). |
| Deep Learning | ML with many-layered neural networks. |
| NLP | Natural Language Processing: understanding human language (translation, chatbots, voice assistants). |
| Computer Vision | Understanding images and video (face recognition). |
| Generative AI | Creates new text, images, audio or code. Built on large language models (LLMs). Chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude belong here. |
| Expert system | Rule-based program that copies a human expert. |
| Robotics | Machines that sense and act. Isaac Asimov wrote the famous Three Laws of Robotics. |
Big Data
Very large, fast, varied data that normal tools cannot handle. The 5 Vs: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, Value. Tools: Hadoop, Spark. Data analytics draws conclusions from data.
India and AI
- IndiaAI Mission (approved in 2024) builds computing power, datasets and AI skills.
- C-DAC's AIRAWAT and PARAM systems support AI research.
- Bhashini is the national language translation mission for Indian languages.
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from standard computer textbooks, Microsoft documentation and official sources. Features differ between Excel and Word versions (2016, 2019, 2021, 365) so check which version your exam follows. Found a mistake? Tell us.