Briefly explain the concepts of literal thinking and abstract thinking as each relates to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Explain your answer in 3-5 sentences.

Literal thinking in artificial intelligence refers to a system's ability to understand and interpret information in a direct and concrete manner, without interpreting underlying meanings or nuances. This is essential for tasks like data processing and straightforward problem-solving. On the other hand, abstract thinking in artificial intelligence involves recognizing patterns, making inferences, and understanding complex concepts that go beyond surface-level information. This is crucial for tasks like natural language processing, image recognition, and decision-making based on contextual information. Both literal and abstract thinking are important for AI and machine learning to effectively analyze and interpret data, make decisions, and learn from patterns and trends.