AI has become part of everyday life over the past decade.
The technology takes many forms - from personalising social media feeds to spotting friends in smartphone photos - and accelerating medical breakthroughs.
Recent claims that AI could become too powerful and threaten humanity have also preceded calls for slower development and tighter regulation.
AI allows computers to process large amounts of data, identify patterns and follow detailed instructions about what to do with that information.
Computers cannot think, empathise or reason.
Scientists have developed systems that can perform tasks which usually need human intelligence, trying to replicate how people acquire and use knowledge.
The technology is also behind voice-controlled virtual assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, and is being used to develop systems for self-driving cars.
AI also helps social platforms like Facebook, TikTok and X decide what posts to show users. Streaming services Spotify and Deezer use AI to suggest music.
Apps like Midjourney or Veo 3 are dedicated to creating images or video from text prompts.
The International Monetary Fund said that AI could affect nearly 40% of jobs, and worsen global financial inequality.
In September 2026 similar fears were raised again after some AI researchers warned the tech could threaten humanity in the near future.
Thousands of creators - including Abba singer-songwriter Björn Ulvaeus, writers Ian Rankin and Joanne Harris, and actor Julianne Moore - signed a statement, external in October 2024 calling AI a "major, unjust threat" to their livelihoods.
In September 2024, Google said it would reconsider proposals for a data centre in Chile, which has tried with drought.