It is based on our cognition and uses numerical assignments for the input data. That data is placed in tables and sifted through by programs we created. That result is sent to another group of tables and processed. The output from that is sent to processing to obtain best results(here again is user input/control) and then sent to a final bank for proper output.
It see's nothing but numbers. Actually only 0 and 1. It is not our kind of cognition, it is a subset of our cognition. It is how we taught it to try and think like us. The difference being that it's not just one program or even one piece of hardware doing this. It truly is the meaning of "I am Legion".
The key to the success (for us) of AI is dependent on the 'feedback loop'. Not only success, but therein lies the danger.
Routine tasks may indeed be reduced to a type of mathematical symmetry through predictive calculations. But throughout human history, invention and creativity have “broken the mold”, “marched to a different drum” or “stepped outside the box”, etc. Significant leaders have been transcenders, innovators, nonconformists.