Welcome to the exciting world of Artificial Intelligence (AI)! In this chapter, we'll explore the fundamentals of AI and dive into the Python programming language, which will serve as our tool for building intelligent systems throughout this book.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science that focuses on creating intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI systems can learn from experience, adapt to new situations, and solve complex problems.

Real-world Applications of AI:

Language models (e.g., ChatGPT)
Self-driving cars
Virtual assistants (e.g., Siri, Alexa)
Recommendation systems (e.g., Netflix, Amazon)
Fraud detection in banking
Medical diagnosis and drug discovery

Introduction to Python Programming:

Python is a high-level, interpreted programming language known for its simplicity and readability. It has gained popularity in the AI community due to its extensive libraries and frameworks for machine learning and data analysis.

Let's start with a simple Python program that prints "Hello, AI!" to the console:

print("Hello, AI!")

Output:

Hello, AI!

Variables and Data Types: In Python, variables are used to store data. Here are some basic data types in Python:

# Integer
age = 25

# Float
height = 1.75

# String
name = "Alice"

# Boolean
is_student = True

# List
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Dictionary
person = {"name": "Bob", "age": 30, "city": "New York"}

Control Structures: Python provides control structures to handle the flow of execution in a program.

If-else statements: