There are three promising directions of artificial intelligence in the 21st century: focused solutions, i.e. solutions used only in a specific field; artificial intelligence of the general direction – a neural computer capable of performing any intellectual action typical for a man or a society and development of artificial superintelligence with scientific creativity, wisdom and communication skills. This paper is aimed at considering a hierarchical approach to the application of artificial intelligence. It is assumed that the hierarchical approach will allow more accurately choosing the required type of solution when dealing with any automation task.