AI is technology that lets computers and machines imitate human abilities like learning, understanding, solving problems, decision making, and work autonomously.
Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing.
AI is booming now because machine learning has improved rapidly, while large amounts of data, powerful computing resources, and advances in deep learning have made AI systems much more capable.
Robots are widely used in manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. They are used because they can perform repetitive and physically demanding tasks efficiently, improve productivity and safety, and reduce the workload on human workers.
Three major challenges are battery life, navigation, and dealing with people and obstacles. The robot needs enough battery to operate for 24 hours, must navigate a large facility without getting lost, and needs to safely avoid people and other obstacles while continuing its surveillance.
Stanford AI100 - AI Research Trends
International Federation of Robotics - The Mobile Revolution