One day Micky was at home working on his computer when he heard Minnie calling him out.
Minnie – (shouting) Hey Mickey!
Mickey – Hi Minnie, what happened?
Minnie – I need to talk to you.
Mickey – Come up then, why are you shouting from there.
Minnie – Your lift’s not working.
Mickey – Oh! Let me come down.
Minnie – Yes, please.
(Mickey helps Minnie and now they are in Mickey’s apartment)
Mickey – Ok, Minnie, now tell me.
Minnie – Remember last time you told me a story about Machine Learning.
Mickey – Yes I do.
Minnie – I told it in my class and my teacher was very happy to hear that. He asked me to get him a story for Artificial Intelligence as well. Can you help me?
Mickey – Of course Minnie, here you go..
Minnie – This is going to be interesting.
Mickey – Let me light a fire in the fireplace.
Minnie – This is so nice and cozy
Mickey (smiling) – Hey Minnie, can you put your finger in that fire?
Minnie (shouting) – Are you crazy!
Mickey – Why? What happened.
Minnie – That will burn my finger and will be extremely painful.
Mickey – And how do you know that?
Minnie – I know with information and experience
I did that when I was a baby and have never been too near to fire since then
Mickey – Okay so with your experience and with some information, you understood it is dangerous to go near the fire.
Minnie – Of course
Mickey – What is that called.
Minnie – Intelligence… I guess?
Mickey – Yes, absolutely!
Minnie – ok so?
Mickey – So if I make this toy car, go towards the fire, will it stop just before the fire.
Minnie – Of course Not!
Mickey – And suppose it gets burned the 1st time, will it remember and stop the 2nd time.
Minnie – No, why would it, It does not have a brain.
Mickey – Exactly! Or we can say it does not have Intelligence.
Minnie – Right!
Mickey – Now suppose we create some software & system that can make this toy car analyze information and based on information and experience take decisions like humans, Like not to go near a place that is too hot (Or hotter than some specific degrees), avoid obstacles, stay away from water, etc.
Minnie – That would be awesome
Mickey – Yes, And that we call….
Minnie – Wait!…. and that we call Artificial Intelligence …? Hurray!
Mickey – Yes. In simple words. AI is all about making machines get the ability to analyze, think and make decisions like humans
Artificial = not natural
Intelligence = ability to learn, understand, think & decide
So we can say Artificial Intelligence is the machine’s or computer’s ability to learn, understand, think and decide like humans
Minnie – Can you give some examples
Mickey – Sure, heard about Self Driving Cars.
Minnie – Yes, they can drive on their own, can think, decide and take action based on the situation
Mickey – Yes
Minnie – So is it similar to Machine Learning, that you told me that day
Mickey – No, Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning (ML) is based on getting data, creating patterns based on data and then takes decision or predicts based on the patterns and ML algorithms that work using data and patterns whereas AI is all about thinking and taking decisions like humans.
Remember the Story of ML
Minnie – Yes I do.
Mickey – Okay can you now tell me what is a smart home system. That can regulate home temperature, switch on or off lights, lock the house etc.
Does it work on AI or ML?
Minnie – Is it AI?
Mickey – No, its ML. The system learns by analysing lots of data and can work or predict based on patterns.
Minnie – Okay then may I ask, what would be an AI-enabled home system be like.
Mickey – hmm.. so add human intelligence to this system. For example if the system is intelligent enough to check if the plants need watering and then waters based on the needs of the plants. If it can also understand that a baby is crying and then plays the music that the baby likes. Can stop a stranger from entering into the house even if he knows the passcodes etc.
To make it more simple
M L = Get data > Create Patterns > Predict
A I = ML + Learn > Understand > Think > Decide > Act
AI system has ability for:
visual perception
audio recognition
speech recognition
decision-making, etc.
And in simple words intelligence like humans
Minnie – So it looks like AI is just not based on computer science
Mickey – Exactly, there are a lot of other fields involved to make an AI system
Minnie – It all sounds so good now.
Mickey – Glad to know that.
Minnie – I can now explain AI and the difference between AI and ML to my class tomorrow.
Mickey – All the best.
Minnie – Thank You!
Mickey – Let me now drop you at your home.
Minnie – You are my best friend
Mickey – I am always here for you 🙂
