The AI terms that actually matter.
No jargon, no hype — just clear, quotable definitions of the AI concepts you'll meet at work, each with a short explanation and links to learn more.
Artificial Intelligence · AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is software that performs tasks normally requiring human intelligence — understanding language, recognising patterns, reasoning and making decisions.
Large Language Model · LLM
A Large Language Model (LLM) is an AI system trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate human language, powering tools like Claude and ChatGPT.
Generative AI · GenAI
Generative AI is AI that creates new content — text, images, code, audio or video — rather than only analysing existing data.
Context Window
A context window is the maximum amount of text an AI model can consider at once — its short-term memory for a given conversation or task.
Machine Learning · ML
Machine learning is a type of AI where systems learn patterns from data and improve at a task, instead of being explicitly programmed with rules.
Neural Network
A neural network is a machine-learning model loosely inspired by the brain, made of layered 'neurons' that learn to recognise patterns in data.
Token
A token is a chunk of text — roughly a word or part of a word — that an AI model reads and generates. Models measure input and output length in tokens.
Multimodal AI
Multimodal AI is AI that can work with more than one type of input or output — for example text, images, audio and video together.
Prompt Engineering
Prompt engineering is the skill of writing clear, well-structured instructions that get reliable, high-quality results from an AI model.
Workflow Automation
Workflow automation is connecting apps and AI so multi-step tasks run automatically, without a person doing each step by hand.
AI Copilot
An AI copilot is an AI assistant embedded in your tools that helps you work — suggesting, drafting and automating alongside you rather than replacing you.
Chain-of-Thought
Chain-of-thought is a prompting technique where you ask an AI model to reason step by step, which improves accuracy on complex problems.
AI Agent
An AI agent is an AI system that can take actions to achieve a goal — using tools, calling other systems and working through multi-step tasks with limited human input.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation · RAG
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is a technique that lets an AI model answer using your own documents and data, retrieving relevant information before generating a response.
Fine-Tuning
Fine-tuning is further training an existing AI model on your own examples so it adapts to a specific style, domain or task.
Transformer
A transformer is the neural-network architecture behind modern large language models, designed to process sequences of text and weigh which parts matter most.
Embedding
An embedding is a numerical representation of text (or other data) that captures its meaning, letting AI systems compare and search by similarity.
Agentic AI
Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can plan and take multi-step actions toward a goal — using tools and making decisions with limited human input.
Model Context Protocol · MCP
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, introduced by Anthropic, for connecting AI assistants to external tools, data and systems in a consistent way.
Hallucination
A hallucination is when an AI model produces information that sounds confident and plausible but is actually false or made up.
Responsible AI
Responsible AI is using AI in a way that is safe, fair, transparent and accountable — with clear rules for data, privacy and human oversight.
AI Governance
AI governance is the set of policies, roles and controls an organisation uses to manage how AI is adopted and used safely and compliantly.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a popular AI assistant made by OpenAI, built on large language models. It can write, summarise, code, analyse and answer questions in natural language.
Claude
Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic, known for thoughtful writing, strong reasoning over long documents, and a safety-first design.