The technology behind artificial intelligence, or AI, was being developed as early as the 1950s, although we are now seeing a surge in its applications--both today and for the future. AI and machine learning come along with a wide variety of benefits to humans, including advances in healthcare, better marketing strategies, and more efficient day-to-day tasks. Because there are so many complexities surrounding AI and its applications, we asked our experts Erika Twani and Renee Lopez-Cantera to break down the basics for us. Erika is the CEO and Co-Founder of Learning One to One, and Renee is the VP of Business Development for Eikon Digital. "When cooking something, you have different ingredients and follow a recipe in a specific order to make sure at the end of cooking, you have the finished dish. In AI, the ingredients are the data, and the process is the analysis that you follow in a specific order and then interpret to have the finished recipe. Imagine that you put all of your ingredients together without measuring anything or following the steps--your cake won't turn out. There has to be a finite number of steps that machines follow to make sure you have a result at the end."