Artificial intelligence comes from sets of instructions that people write. These instructions are called programs. Computers use programs to analyze, or study, large amounts of information quickly. Then they pick answers or actions from among many choices. Computer programs can be used for playing games, making medical decisions, translating languages, and even designing computers.

But analyzing information is not the same as understanding a problem as humans do. Computers can only use logic, or the relationships among facts, to figure out problems. Humans use many skills besides logic when making decisions. They use such things as imagination, awareness, emotion, and values. No one knows yet whether these abilities can be programmed into a computer.