This article is part of Demystifying AI, a series of posts that (try to) disambiguate the jargon and myths surrounding AI. At some point, every one of us has had the feeling that online applications like YouTube and Amazon and Spotify seem to know us better than ourselves, recommending content that we like even before we say it. At the heart of these platforms' success are artificial intelligence algorithms--or more precisely, machine learning models--that can find intricate patterns in huge sets of data. Corporations in different sectors leverage the power of machine learning along with the availability of big data and compute resources to bring remarkable enhancement to all sorts of operations, including content recommendation, inventory management, sales forecasting, and fraud detection. Yet, despite their seemingly magical behavior, current AI algorithms are very efficient statistical engines that can predict outcomes as long as they don't deviate too much from the norm.

While artificial intelligence may be powering Siri, Google searches, and the advance of self-driving cars, many people still have sci-fi-inspired notions of what AI actually looks like and how it will affect our lives. AI-focused conferences give researchers and business executives a clear view of what is already working and what is coming down the road. To bring AI researchers from academia and industry together to share their work, learn from one another, and inspire new ideas and collaborations, there are a plethora of AI-focused conferences around the world. There's a growing number of AI conferences geared toward business leaders who want to learn how to use artificial intelligence and related machine learning and deep learning to propel their companies beyond their competitors. So, whether you're a post-doc, a professor working on robotics, or a programmer for a major company, there are conferences out there to help you code better, network with other researchers, and show off your latest papers.

AI is as hot as a laptop with a broken fan--so scorching that some conferences promise to exclude recruiters. As such, there are plenty of organizations motivated to share AI and machine learning information. This overview aims to help you identify the conferences that are worth your time and meet your needs. At first glance, you could use a background in data mining just to sort through all the events that have "artificial Intelligence" in their titles or include AI conference tracks. I winnowed down the offerings based on the quality of speakers, attendees, and networking opportunities.