The applications of artificial intelligence lie all around us: in our homes, schools, offices, cinemas, art galleries, and on the Internet. The results of artificial intelligence have been invaluable to biologists, psychologists, and linguists in helping to understand the processes of memory, learning, and language from a fresh angle. As a concept, artificial intelligence has fueled and sharpened the philosophical debates concerning the nature of the mind, intelligence, and the uniqueness of human beings. In this very short introduction, Margaret A. Boden reviews the philosophical and technological challenges raised by artificial intelligence, considering whether programs could ever be truly intelligent, creative, or even conscious, and shows how the pursuit of artificial intelligence has helped us to appreciate how human and animal minds are possible.