The evolution and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) from a niche concept to an everyday essential

AI has evolved from a specialized term to a household name. AI shapes several industries from banking and healthcare to law enforcement and academia. Research institutions and funding agencies must prioritize grants and encourage AI innovation. Can you guess when it all began?

Around mid-2010s, AI transitioned from a niche concept to a widely recognized term. Virtual assistant tools like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant introduced AI into our daily lives, making it a relatable and accessible companion for navigating daily tasks. Today, streaming services, social media platforms, and e-commerce websites leverage AI to personalize user experiences, making it an invisible yet powerful force shaping our daily activities.

Defined as the “scientific field dedicated to the engineered system that generates outputs—such as content, forecasts, recommendations or decisions—based on a given set of human-defined objectives,”⁽¹⁾ the term AI is often associated with tools that perform human tasks requiring intelligence, like perception, judgment, reasoning, and decision-making. However, what sets AI apart is its exceptional ability to ‘learn’⁽²⁾ from data, adapting and improving its output over time. This ability to respond to environmental changes makes it ideal for data-intensive, analytical fields like academic research.