Punch Newspapers Sections In the past, artificial intelligence was just something relegated to science fiction propagated by books and movies. Self-driving cars, a toothbrush that tells you the best way to brush your teeth, a voice recognition software that unlocks your phone, your face unlocking your laptop and other devices – all these were only scenes from sci-fi books and movies. By way of definition, the American technology giant International Business Machines Corporation defines AI as referring to any human-like intelligence exhibited by a computer, robot, or other machines. In popular usage, AI refers to the ability of a computer or machine to mimic the capabilities of the human mind – learning from examples and experience, recognising objects, understanding and responding to language, making decisions, solving problems – and combining these and other capabilities to perform functions a human might perform, such as greeting a hotel guest or driving a car.