Lesson 05 — AI vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning

If you are new to artificial intelligence, you have probably already seen these three terms:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Deep Learning (DL)

They are closely related, but they are not the same thing.

The good news is that the difference is actually quite simple.

The Simple Explanation

Think of these concepts as three levels:

AI → Machine Learning → Deep Learning

AI is the biggest category.

Machine Learning is one way of creating AI.

Deep Learning is a type of Machine Learning.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is the broad idea of making computers perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

These tasks can include:

• Understanding language
• Recognizing images
• Solving problems
• Making decisions
• Understanding speech
• Generating content

AI is therefore a very large field.

Importantly, an AI system does not necessarily have to learn from data.

A system can use rules created by humans and still be considered AI.

What Is Machine Learning?

Machine Learning is a method for creating AI systems that can learn patterns from data.

Instead of programming every possible rule manually, developers give the system examples and allow it to find patterns.

For example, imagine that you want to create a system that detects spam emails.

You could give it thousands of examples of spam and normal emails.

The system can then learn patterns that help it distinguish between the two.

What Is Deep Learning?

Deep Learning is a specialized type of Machine Learning.

It uses structures called neural networks with many layers.

These networks can learn very complex patterns from large amounts of data.

Deep Learning is behind many modern AI technologies, including:

• Image recognition
• Speech recognition
• Large language models
• Generative AI
• Some autonomous driving systems

A Simple Analogy

Imagine three boxes.

The largest box is AI.

Inside it is a smaller box called Machine Learning.

Inside that box is another box called Deep Learning.

So:

Deep Learning is Machine Learning, and Machine Learning is AI.

But not every AI system uses Machine Learning.

And not every Machine Learning system uses Deep Learning.

AI Without Machine Learning

Some AI systems can work using predefined rules.

For example, imagine a simple system that follows a large set of rules to determine whether a loan application meets certain conditions.

The rules are written by humans rather than learned from data.

This can still be considered a form of AI.

Machine Learning Without Deep Learning

Machine Learning does not always require neural networks.

There are many Machine Learning techniques that use other types of algorithms.

For example:

• Decision trees
• Linear regression
• Random forests
• Support vector machines

These techniques can be very effective for many types of problems.

Why Is Deep Learning So Important Today?

Deep Learning became much more powerful when several technologies developed at the same time.

We gained:

• Huge amounts of digital data
• Much more powerful computers
• Specialized hardware such as GPUs

This allowed researchers to train much larger neural networks.

These advances helped create many of the AI systems we use today.

Where Do ChatGPT and Other AI Assistants Fit?

Modern AI assistants are based heavily on Deep Learning.

For example, large language models use neural networks trained on enormous amounts of data.

These models learn patterns in language and can use those patterns to generate new text.

We will explore these models in more detail later in the Learning Path.

The Difference at a Glance

Concept	Simple Definition
AI	The broad field of making computers perform intelligent tasks.
Machine Learning	A way for computers to learn patterns from data.
Deep Learning	A type of Machine Learning based on multi-layer neural networks.

Why Does This Matter?

Understanding these three concepts makes it much easier to understand the rest of the AI world.

For example, when you hear that a company has developed an AI system, you can now ask:

Does it use Machine Learning?

And if it does:

Does it use Deep Learning?

This helps you understand what technology is actually behind the product.

Key Takeaways

• AI is the broadest concept.
• Machine Learning is one way of creating AI systems.
• Deep Learning is a type of Machine Learning.
• Not every AI system uses Machine Learning.
• Not every Machine Learning system uses Deep Learning.
• Modern generative AI relies heavily on Deep Learning.

What’s Next?

Now that you understand the difference between AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning, we can take a closer look at Machine Learning itself.

In the next lesson, we will explain how Machine Learning works and how computers can learn patterns from data.