Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are buzzwords around the tech community, prompting many to ask, “Are they real, and are they here yet?” I had to ask the same question over a year ago to someone who was leading an AI team at Google. This is the explanation I received that I like to use: Think of artificial intelligence as a technology that can do what a human can do already, like a robot vacuum. The difference is the robot can go all day and night, week after week.