Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of c omputer science that aims to create it.

AI textbooks define the field as "the st udy and design of intelligent agents"[1] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of su ccess.[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,[3] defines it as "the scie nce and engineering of making intelligent machines."[4] Artificial intelligence takes the intelligence of humans, such as perception, natural language processin g, problem solving and planning, learning and adaptation, and acting on the envi ronment and applies them with machines, systems, and virtual objects. The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligen ce the sapience of Homo sapiens can be so precisely described that it can be simulat ed by a machine.[5] This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the min d and the ethics of creating artificial beings, issues which have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity.[6] Artificial intelligence has been the subject of optimism,[7] but has also suffered setbacks[8] and, today, has become an essential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lif ting for many of the most difficult problems in computer science.[9] AI research is highly technical and specialized, deeply divided into subfields t hat often fail in the task of communicating with each other.[10] Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work of individual researchers, and the solution of specific problems, resulting in longstanding differences of opi nion about how AI should be done and the application of widely differing tools. The central problems of AI include such traits as reasoning, knowledge, planning , learning, communication, perception and the ability to move and manipulate obj ects.[11] General intelligence (or "strong AI") is still among the field's long term goals.[12]