What AI is, and what it isn't

Artificial intelligence is software that learns patterns from data and uses them to produce outputs: predictions, recommendations, decisions or new content. The EU AI Act defines an AI system by one key ability: it infers from the input it receives how to generate those outputs, rather than only following rules a person wrote line by line.

Where you meet AI at work

• Chat assistants that draft, summarise and answer questions.
• Features inside everyday tools: email suggestions, meeting transcription, CRM lead scoring, HR screening, fraud alerts.
• Systems your company builds: pricing models, chatbots on the website, internal agents.

Many people use AI daily without noticing, because it arrives as a feature, not a separate product.

What AI is good at

• Drafting and rewriting text quickly.
• Summarising long documents.
• Finding patterns in large amounts of data.
• Answering routine questions at any hour.

What AI is not

• Not a source of truth. It can be fluent and wrong at the same time.
• Not neutral by default. It learns from data that may carry past bias.
• Not responsible. People and organisations stay accountable for what AI does on their behalf.