Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (Third Edition)

We call ourselves Homo sapiens—man the wise—because our intelligence is so important
to us. For thousands of years, we have tried to understand how we think; that is, how a mere
handful of matter can perceive, understand, predict, and manipulate a world far larger and
more complicated than itself. The field of artificial intelligence, or AI, goes further still: it
attempts not just to understand but also to build intelligent entities.
AI is one of the newest fields in science and engineering. Work started in earnest soon
after World War II, and the name itself was coined in 1956. Along with molecular biology,
AI is regularly cited as the “field I would most like to be in” by scientists in other disciplines.
A student in physics might reasonably feel that all the good ideas have already been taken by
Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and the rest. AI, on the other hand, still has openings for several
full-time Einsteins and Edisons.
AI currently encompasses a huge variety of subfields, ranging from the general (learning
and perception) to the specific, such as playing chess, proving mathematical theorems, writing
poetry, driving a car on a crowded street, and diagnosing diseases. AI is relevant to any
intellectual task; it is truly a universal field.