Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence, abbreviated to AI is a form of life that does not utilise natural intelligence, but instead mimic cognitive functions and display an ability to understand and respond to its environment. AIs do not have an organic body, if they have one at all, and their consciousness is usually preserved through the processors and memory pertaining to their home computer. However,they can gain a physical body, at which point they are a robot or android, allowing them to interact with their environment physically.

History
Artificial intelligence was first coined in 1955 by John McCarthy, at which point the field of science was established. The first conclusive AI program, the Logic Theorist, was in fact being written at this time by Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon and Cliff Shaw. It went on to prove 38 out of the first 52 theorems of Principia Mathematica.

Over time, artificial intelligence advanced to the point of present day, in which AI can perform 2.8 billion operations in one second. The world's current fastest computer, the K from Fujitsu, computes four times faster than the average human brain and stores around ten times as much data. It can do 33,860 trillion calculations in one second. Artificial intelligence is additionally now very commonplace, with their frequent use as personal assistants for sake of convenience, such as Alexa and Siri, which have shown to detect voice patterns effectively, demonstrating clear and consistent understanding. Artificial intelligence is considered on the fastest growing fields of scientific study, with three of the top five fastest growing occupations in science all being to do with computer systems.

The rapidly advancing state of artificial intelligence has since led to growing controversies of the possibility that AI may become self-aware and view the human race as a threat to its existence. Although this a legitimate concern, the concept has resulted in AI's immortalization in pop culture, such as A Space Odyssey's HAL-9000 and the Terminator franchise. In these movies, the story generally revolves around a self-aware AI that seeks to eliminate humanity.

Artificial intelligences in the present day have occurred on Earth-1, Earth-38 and Earth-X, but not specifically Earth. On Earth-1, there was Clifford Devoe, who uploaded his mind to his Hoverchair following his defeat at the hands of Team Flash and his wife Marlize DeVoe. The A.M.A.Z.O. android created by Ivo Laboratories was also an artificial intelligence, created for the purpose of copying another's physiological abilities. "Superman", when in possession of the Book of Destiny, created a version of A.M.A.Z.O. . On Earth-38, Red Tornado was an combat AI created by T.O. Morrow, to kill Kryptonians. The intelligence took eleven years to research and develop, costing around a billion dollars. Kryptonians also invented AI of their own, such as Kelex, the robotic assistant residing in the Fortress of Solitude. On Earth-X, the Freedom Fighters] had their own version of Red Tornado, while the Schutzstaffel used the robotic Metallo, a cyborg powered by Kryptonite.

In the far future, AI become exceedingly more advanced to the point of near-sentience, making them nearly indistinguishable from humans during conversation. At some point in a possible future, Barry Allen developed the Gideon artificial interactive consciousness, with an operating system so advanced that Cisco could not even begin to understand its complexity. The Time Masters later created their own version of Gideon, along with variants, for example Godfrey and Gilbert. Gideon has a storage capacity beyond any human, well over 1.2 zettabytes. Eobard Thawne was also capable of making a Gideon counterpart on the Wellenreiter, for use by the New Reichsmen.

Powers
As AIs are computers, they are able to perform calculations much faster than any human ever could, and run programs simultaneously within a nanosecond.
 * Technopathy: The crux of a computer is the ability to control technology, and as such, some artificial intelligences can control themselves, not requiring commands from a human. However, all AI shown tended to stick to their programming and follow any command that a recognised individual issued them. This could sometimes become a weakness, as when Rip Hunter was brainwashed by the Legion of Doom, Gideon was forced to follow the security protocols he followed, despite being fully aware that Rip, at the time, was her enemy.