This paper presents a comprehensive survey of various artificial intelligence (AI) techniques implemented in cognitive radio engine to improve cognition capability in cognitive radio networks (CRNs). AI enables systems to solve problems by emulating human biological processes such as learning, reasoning, decision making, self-adaptation, self-organization, and self-stability. The use of AI techniques is studied in applications related to the major tasks of cognitive radio including spectrum sensing, spectrum sharing, spectrum mobility, and decision making regarding dynamic spectrum access, resource allocation, parameter adaptation, and optimization problem. The aim is to provide a single source as a survey paper to help researchers better understand the various implementations of AI approaches to different cognitive radio designs, as well as to refer interested readers to the recent AI research works done in CRNs.