Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence, which is broadly defined as the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior. It was defined in the 1950s by AI pioneer Arthur Samuel as “the field of study that gives computers the ability to learn without explicitly being programmed.”

Source: Brown, S. (2021). Machine learning, explained. MIT Sloan.
Online: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/machine-learning-explained