Artificial intelligence (AI) aims to create machines that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence like reasoning, learning, perception and decision making. The history of AI began with ancient myths and philosophers exploring human thinking, with pioneers in the 1940s creating programmable computers. Current AI has achieved successes using new methods, powerful hardware and large datasets, though challenges remain. The future implications of AI include the potential emergence of general artificial intelligence, convergence with other technologies, and both opportunities for enhancing humanity as well as risks of human-AI conflict that require wisdom and responsibility to manage.