Abstract: To better understand the latest development of artificial intelligence (AI), an introduction on the current development of AI from various aspects was presented. First, important events in the development course of AI were sorted out, and the development course of AI was briefly introduced. Then, the knowledge system of AI was summarized, and current hot fields of AI technology such as computer vision and natural language processing were introduced. Further, the applications of AI in industry, medical treatment, finance, security and other fields were analyzed. Finally, the development directions of AI was discussed by reviewing the development status of AI in China. It is shown that AI techniques are of great signficance to the development of science and technology.