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Commonly confused · AI & Machine Learning

AI vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning: What's the Difference?

Artificial intelligence is the broad field of making machines perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. Machine learning is a subset of AI where systems learn patterns from data instead of being explicitly programmed, and deep learning is a subset of ML that uses multi-layer neural networks.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Full definition
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Machine Learning (ML)

Full definition
vs

Deep Learning (DL)

Full definition
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningDeep Learning
ScopeBroadest umbrellaSubset of AISubset of ML
ApproachAny technique: rules, search, logic, learningAlgorithms learn from dataMany-layered neural networks learn features automatically
Feature engineeringVariesOften manualLargely automatic
Data needsVariesModerateVery large datasets
Compute needsVariesModerate, CPUs often fineHigh, usually GPUs/accelerators
ExamplesExpert systems, chess engines, chatbotsSpam filters, fraud scoring, decision treesImage recognition, speech, large language models
Remember it

AI contains ML, ML contains deep learning, deep learning powers generative AI.

Exam tip

Expect nested-circle questions asking which term is the broadest or which requires neural networks. Generative AI and LLMs are built on deep learning.

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