Artificial Intelligence
/ˌɑːr.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl ɪnˈtel.ɪdʒəns/noun
The capability of a computer or machine to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Did you know?The word intelligence comes from Latin roots meaning roughly ‘to choose or gather between,’ linking modern machine learning to an ancient metaphor of selecting meaning from clues.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ar-
“To fit, join, or put things together; a proposed root behind Latin ars, the source of art and artificial.”
Classical Latin
Latin
ars
“Skill, craft, method, or learned technique.”
Classical Latin
Latin
artificialis
“Made by skill or craft; artificial, as opposed to natural.”
Classical Latin
Latin
intellegere
“To understand; literally to choose or gather among things, from inter, ‘between,’ and legere, ‘to gather or read.’”
Late Latin
Latin
intelligentia
“Understanding, discernment, or the faculty of comprehension.”
14th Century
English
artificial; intelligence
“English adopts artificial for something made by human skill and intelligence for understanding or mental capacity.”
20th Century
English
artificial intelligence
“A technical term for machine-based systems designed to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, popularized in computing during the 1950s.”