About

This course pursues an ambition that is simple to state and hard to deliver: to offer, in a single document, a complete and honest understanding of what artificial intelligence (AI) is, where it comes from, how it works, what it makes possible, what it threatens, and where it might be taking us. Robotics holds a central place here, because it is becoming the "body" that this intelligence has long been seeking.

It is designed for two readers in a single person:

• "the ordinary person on the street", who finally wants to understand what the newspapers are talking about, without jargon and without condescension. For them, every concept is first explained in plain terms, with images, analogies, and concrete examples.
• the technical reader, or the one curious to go further, who wants to know what lies under the hood: the architectures, the guiding mathematics, the engineering trade-offs. For them, dedicated boxes go deeper into each concept.

You can read only the "in plain terms" level and come away with a solid grounding; read both and gain genuine conceptual mastery.

Three commitments

1. Accuracy and verifiability. Dated facts (models, deployments, regulations) are verified as of June 2026 and sourced in the appendix. When a topic is uncertain or contested, the course says so, rather than ruling on it unduly.
2. Editorial neutrality. AI is a geopolitical subject. This course treats the American, Chinese, and European players on equal footing, presents the opposing arguments (techno-optimism versus caution, open versus closed models), and leaves it to each reader to form their own opinion.
3. Honesty about uncertainty. No one knows with certainty what AI will look like in 2030. Forward-looking passages are presented as scenarios, not as prophecies.

How to read this course

The document is organized into 6 parts and 18 chapters, in a strictly logical progression: a concept is never discussed before the ones it depends on have been laid out. Conventions:

Symbol	Meaning
In plain terms	Intuitive explanation, accessible to everyone
Under the hood	Technical deep dive
In context	A key date, figure, or definition to remember
Debate	An open question, opposing arguments
Diagram	A diagram illustrating the concept

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