Raw information is collated by intelligence agencies, who then process it and send it to the Joint Intelligence Committee, who put together assessments in the form of strategic documents.

BBC: Q&A: Lost terror files

Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot says a robot is something that uses sensors to perceive information to understand the world and then uses artificial intelligence to process what it saw, then applies some kind of physical actuation in its environment.

FORBES: Is It Really A Robot?

The process starts on the intelligence-gathering side, where a tremendous flood of information pours into the National Counterterrorism Center, a clearinghouse agency created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and run by the director of national intelligence.

NPR: 'System Failure' In U.S. Screening For Terrorists