Artificial Intelligence and Engineering

AI refers to systems that act intelligently, whether in a specific domain (narrow AI), or in general (strong AI). Designing such systems is no easy task. The human brain, consisting of about 86 billion neurons, has been postulated to be the most complex object in the known universe; naturally, recreating even a portion of that complexity has proven to be challenging. Does this mean the current interest in AI is just the latest in a series of hype cycles? Consider these recent AI accomplishments: in 2011, IBM's question-answering Watson program bested Jeopardy!