6.1 What is Data?

Data is recorded facts, measurements, and observations about the world. Numbers, words, images, sounds, and clicks all become data once we store them in a form a computer can read.

AI learns patterns from data. Without good data, even the smartest algorithm cannot make useful predictions — data is the raw material of every model.

Think of a kebele health post recording each patient's age, weight, and visit date. Those rows in a notebook are data; later they can reveal which season brings the most malaria cases.