One of the ways they do this is through Convolutional Neural Networks, or CNNs for short, one small part of the broad field of artificial intelligence.
A CNN can be described as a series of algorithms that can recognise patterns in images. The network is trained on a dataset of images with known labels, such as photos of dogs and cats, and learns to recognise the characteristics that distinguish one from the other.
Once the network has learned these characteristics, it can use them to recognise new images it has never seen before. So if you show the network a new image of a dog or cat, it will use the learned characteristics to make a prediction about what it sees.
CNNs are used in a wide range of applications, from self-driving Teslas to medical image analysis. They are revolutionising the way we interact with technology and opening up new possibilities for innovation and discovery.
The most recent CNNs already perform this kind of object classification more accurately than humans themselves, by the way.
So the next time you see a computer recognise an image, remember that it is probably using a CNN. An impressive example of artificial intelligence!