Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of research that goes back to the very beginnings of computer science. The possibility of building a machine that can perform tasks that require human intelligence is an incredible one. Artificial Intelligence was once something that people thought could only exist in science fiction novels or movies. Just imagine a machine that can think for itself. With the growth of modern science, the search for AI has taken two major directions: psychological and physiological research into the nature of human thought, and the technological development of increasingly sophisticated computing systems. Artificial Intelligence began after WWII when a number of people independently started working on intelligent machines. The British mathematician, Alan Turing, may have been the first. Alan Turing gave a lecture on Artificial Intelligence in 1947. He also may have been the first to decide that AI was best researched by programming computers rather than by building machines. By the late 1950s, there were many researchers on AI, and most of them were basing their work on programming computers.
             The term Artificial Intelligence has been applied to computer systems and programs capable of performing tasks more complex than basic programming, although still far from the realm of actual thought. The most important fields of research in this area include information processing, pattern recognition, and practical fields such as medical diagnosis. Systems are being created that can understand speech and game-playing computers are being created that can beat even the best human chess player. Further research in information processing includes programs that enable a computer to understand written or spoken information to produce summaries, answer specific questions, and redistribute information. Even though reading is a skill that a four-year-old can acquire without excessive difficulty, it is almost impossible for ma...