Core Concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Problem-Solving with Python

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🧠 Part 3: Core Concepts of AI and Problem-Solving with Python

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🧠 What Is Intelligence in AI?

In AI, intelligence refers to the ability of a machine to:

• Learn from experience

• Adapt to new inputs

• Perform tasks like reasoning, planning, and decision-making

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🧩 Core Areas of AI

1. Problem Solving

2. Knowledge Representation

3. Logical Reasoning

4. Learning and Adaptation

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🎯 Types of AI (By Capability)

Type	Description	Example
Narrow AI	AI that performs a specific task	Siri, Alexa
General AI	AI that mimics human intelligence	Still theoretical
Super AI	AI smarter than humans	Hypothetical/Future

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🧠 Problem-Solving in AI

AI systems often solve problems using one or more of the following strategies:

🔍 1. Search Algorithms

Used to explore all possible solutions in a structured way (like in a maze or game).

Example: Breadth-First Search (BFS), Depth-First Search (DFS)

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🧠 2. Heuristics

A heuristic is a rule of thumb or shortcut that guides decision-making.

# A simple heuristic: Prefer shorter paths
def heuristic(path):
    return len(path)

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🧱 3. Rule-Based Systems

These systems use if-then rules to simulate decision-making.

def chatbot_response(message):
    if "hello" in message.lower():
        return "Hi there! How can I help you?"
    elif "bye" in message.lower():
        return "Goodbye!"
    else:
        return "I don't understand."

print(chatbot_response("Hello"))

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🧪 Mini Project: A Simple Rule-Based Expert System

Let’s simulate a basic medical diagnosis bot using if-elif rules:

def diagnose(symptom):
    if symptom == "fever":
        return "You might have the flu."
    elif symptom == "cough":
        return "You may have a cold."
    elif symptom == "headache":
        return "Could be a migraine."
    else:
        return "Symptom not recognized."

print(diagnose("fever"))  # Output: You might have the flu.

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🧭 Practice Challenge

Try expanding the system to handle multiple symptoms:

def multi_symptom(symptoms):
    if "fever" in symptoms and "cough" in symptoms:
        return "Flu or COVID-19"
    elif "headache" in symptoms and "nausea" in symptoms:
        return "Migraine"
    else:
        return "Please consult a doctor"

print(multi_symptom(["fever", "cough"]))

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🎓 What You’ve Learned:

• How AI systems approach problem-solving

• The concept of heuristics and rules

• How to implement rule-based systems using Python

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🧭 What’s Next?

In Part 4, we’ll jump into Machine Learning and use Python’s scikit-learn to build your first ML model.