Artificial Intelligence: Practice and Policy K.P. (Suba) Subbalakshmi [view bio] June 27, 2017 Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined as the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. The popularity of AI has waxed and waned over the years and is currently enjoying a significant resurgence. Google’s AI powered AlphaGO has already beaten the reigning human GO champions. Forty four corporations have begun building AI powered autonomous vehicles. The term “AI” elicits starkly differing responses ranging from hope that AI will be the panacea for almost all that currently ails the human society, to fear that it will destroy everything that humans consider valuable. In this talk, we will examine its history, the promises that AI holds, its potential impact on the economy, its potential to be a game changer in the functioning of society, some of the concerns that it invokes and potential policy questions that it may raise. We will also briefly look “under the hood” of AI to get a better understanding of some of the technologies that drive innovations in this area as well as what is and isn’t AI.