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What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term coined in 1955 by John McCarthy, Stanford's first faculty member in AI, who described it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines." Today it is a broad term for computer systems that can perform tasks with human-like intelligence, such as understanding language, recognizing images, learning from data, reasoning, and making decisions. Modern AI often works by finding patterns in large amounts of data and using those patterns to generate predictions or responses. It can be narrow (good at a specific task) or more general-purpose, like today’s large language models that can handle many tasks.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) mentioned at Stanford HAI

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Machine Learning (ML) | AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) | Deep Learning

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What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? | Stanford HAI

Enroll in a Human-Centered AI Course

This HAI program covers technical fundamentals, business implications, and societal considerations.
AI Legal Review Says Millions Live Under Discriminatory Local Laws
Andrew Myers
Sep 08
News
piles of outdated laws with AI highlighted discriminatory ones

Building an AI pipeline to comb through millions of local statutes, researchers at Stanford Law School turn a spotlight on unsavory laws still on the books in communities across the country.

AI Legal Review Says Millions Live Under Discriminatory Local Laws

Andrew Myers
Sep 08

Building an AI pipeline to comb through millions of local statutes, researchers at Stanford Law School turn a spotlight on unsavory laws still on the books in communities across the country.

Government, Public Administration
Law Enforcement and Justice
Regulation, Policy, Governance
piles of outdated laws with AI highlighted discriminatory ones
News
Making Local Law Legible: LLM-Assisted Detection of Discrimination
Dan Bateyko, Yasmine Mabene, Derek Ouyang, Daniel E. Ho
Quick ReadSep 08
Policy Brief

This brief demonstrates the potential of LLM-assisted review to accelerate legal reform.

Making Local Law Legible: LLM-Assisted Detection of Discrimination

Dan Bateyko, Yasmine Mabene, Derek Ouyang, Daniel E. Ho
Quick ReadSep 08

This brief demonstrates the potential of LLM-assisted review to accelerate legal reform.

Government, Public Administration
Ethics, Equity, Inclusion
Policy Brief
Your Boss, Tech Companies And Police Can Read Your Chatbot Conversations
Washington Post
Aug 31
Media Mention

HAI Policy Fellow Jennifer King discusses privacy issues with AI chatbots, saying, “Unless you are having a chat with a service that has a temporary chat or, basically, an incognito version ... [and] you’re also having it within a browser that’s not tracking you, the answer is no. You can’t be sure that it’ll be totally private."

Your Boss, Tech Companies And Police Can Read Your Chatbot Conversations

Washington Post
Aug 31

HAI Policy Fellow Jennifer King discusses privacy issues with AI chatbots, saying, “Unless you are having a chat with a service that has a temporary chat or, basically, an incognito version ... [and] you’re also having it within a browser that’s not tracking you, the answer is no. You can’t be sure that it’ll be totally private."

Privacy, Safety, Security
Media Mention
Designing Loyalty: AI Agents and Conflicts of Interest
Ella Genasci Smith, Victor Y. Wu, Jennifer King
Quick ReadAug 25
Issue Brief

This brief examines the conflict-of-interest risks posed by AI agents and calls for imposing a duty of loyalty on developers and deployers.

Designing Loyalty: AI Agents and Conflicts of Interest

Ella Genasci Smith, Victor Y. Wu, Jennifer King
Quick ReadAug 25

This brief examines the conflict-of-interest risks posed by AI agents and calls for imposing a duty of loyalty on developers and deployers.

Privacy, Safety, Security
Regulation, Policy, Governance
Industry, Innovation
Issue Brief
California's Data And Privacy Laws Aren't Being Followed
Marketplace
Aug 25
Media Mention

The state's Delete Act was supposed to give Californians a one-stop-shop to request their online information be deleted. But only a minority of registered data brokers are abiding by those laws, says Jennifer King, privacy and data policy fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered AI.

California's Data And Privacy Laws Aren't Being Followed

Marketplace
Aug 25

The state's Delete Act was supposed to give Californians a one-stop-shop to request their online information be deleted. But only a minority of registered data brokers are abiding by those laws, says Jennifer King, privacy and data policy fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered AI.

Privacy, Safety, Security
Regulation, Policy, Governance
Media Mention
Regulating Data Brokers in the Age of AI: A California Case Study
Anna-Maria Gueorguieva, Jennifer King, Apoorva Panidapu, Daniel E. Ho
Quick ReadAug 11
Policy Brief

This brief assesses data broker compliance with California privacy laws and calls for more stringent consumer protections.

Regulating Data Brokers in the Age of AI: A California Case Study

Anna-Maria Gueorguieva, Jennifer King, Apoorva Panidapu, Daniel E. Ho
Quick ReadAug 11

This brief assesses data broker compliance with California privacy laws and calls for more stringent consumer protections.

Privacy, Safety, Security
Regulation, Policy, Governance
Policy Brief