Glossary of AI terms

Algorithm: A finite sequence of instructions followed by a computer system

Alignment: The extent to which an AI’s goals are in line with its creators’ goals

AlphaGo: An AI system that plays Go

Anthropomorphism: Attribution of human traits to non-human entities

Artificial general intelligence (AGI): AI that surpasses human intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI): Intelligence demonstrated by machines

AI detector: A tool designed to detect when a text was AI-generated

AI safety: The study of how AI can be developed and used safely

AI writing: Use of AI technology to produce or edit text (e.g., chatbots, paraphrasing tools)

Automation: Handling a process with machines or software so that less human input is needed

Autonomous: Able to perform tasks without human input

Bard: A chatbot developed by Google, released in March 2023

Bias: The assumptions that an AI makes to simplify its tasks

Big data: Very large datasets that normal data-processing software can’t handle

Bing Chat: A chatbot feature integrated into Bing, released in February 2023

Burstiness: A measurement of variation in sentence structure and length

CAPTCHA: A test used online to ensure that the user is humanChatbot: A software application that mimics human conversation, usually through text

ChatGPT: A chatbot released by OpenAI in November 2022

Chinese room: A philosophical thought experiment about AI

Computer: A machine that can automatically perform the tasks it is programmed forDALL-E: An AI image generator released by OpenAI in January 2021

Deep Blue: An AI system that plays chess

Deepfake: AI-generated images and videos designed to look real

Deep learning: A form of machine learning based on neural networks

ELIZA: An early chatbot developed in the 1960s

Emergent behavior: Complex behavior resulting from basic processes

Generative AI: AI systems that generate output in response to prompts

Generative pre-trained transformer (GPT): A type of LLM used in ChatGPT and other AI applications

Hallucination: Tendency of AI chatbots to confidently present false information

Large language model (LLM): A neural net trained on large amounts of text to imitate human language

Machine learning (ML): The study of how AI acquires knowledge from training data

Machine translation: Use of software to translate text between languages

Midjourney: An AI image generator released in July 2022

Natural language processing (NLP): The study of interaction between computers and human language

Neural net(work): Computer systems designed to mimic brain structures

OpenAI: A leading AI company that developed ChatGPT and DALL-E

Parameter: A variable in an AI system that it uses to make predictions

Paraphrasing tool: An AI writing tool that automatically rephrases the text you type into it

Perplexity: A measure of how unpredictable a text is

Plagiarism: Unacknowledged use of the words or ideas of others

Programming: The process of giving instructions to a computer (using computer code)

Prompt: The input from the user to which the AI system responds

QuillBot: A company offering a popular  paraphrasing tool and other AI writing tools

Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF): Training method used to fine-tune GPT model responses

Robot: Machine capable of carrying out physical actions automatically

Temperature: The level of randomness in an LLM’s output

Training data: The dataset that was used to train an AI system

Token: The basic unit of text (a word or part of a word) processed by LLMs

Turing test: A test of a machine’s ability to display human intelligence