AI Glossary
Browse clear explanations of AI tools, fundamentals, models, and technologies by topic or alphabetically.
Tools & services62 terms
AI tools and services, including ChatGPT.
0–9
A
- Tools & services Adobe Firefly Adobe Firefly is Adobe's generative AI service for creating images, video, and vector assets and for editing photographs from text instructions. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Anthropic Anthropic is the American AI company behind Claude, known for placing AI safety research at the center of how it builds models. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Apple Intelligence Apple Intelligence is Apple's personal AI system built into iPhone, iPad, and Mac, combining on-device processing with Private Cloud Compute. Read the explanation
B
C
- Tools & services Canva AI Canva is a design tool anyone can use, and its AI features now handle image generation and much of the design work itself. Read the explanation
- Tools & services ChatGPT ChatGPT is OpenAI’s conversational generative AI service. It can help with writing, research, images, coding, and voice conversations through a chat interface. Read the explanation
- Tools & services ChatGPT Images ChatGPT Images creates and edits images inside the ChatGPT conversation, so you describe the result and the revisions in words. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Claude Claude is Anthropic’s conversational generative AI. It is known for strong writing, long-document work, coding, and careful responses. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Claude Code Claude Code is Anthropic’s agentic coding tool. It can inspect a project, edit files, run commands and tests, and work through a software task from a natural-language request. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Codex Codex is OpenAI’s AI coding agent. It can edit files, run commands, execute tests, and carry a development task through to verification. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Cursor Cursor is a code editor designed around AI. You develop by conversing with the model, and it spread rapidly among developers. Read the explanation
D
- Tools & services DeepL DeepL is a language AI service offering translation of text and documents, plus writing assistance for correcting and rephrasing prose. Read the explanation
- Tools & services DeepSeek DeepSeek is a Chinese AI service that develops models and offers them through chat, apps, and an API, covering reasoning, coding, and long documents. Read the explanation
E
F
G
- Tools & services Gamma Gamma generates presentations, documents, and web pages from a description, producing structure, text, layout, and imagery together. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Gemini Gemini is Google’s conversational generative AI service. Its main advantage is integration with Google Search, Gmail, Docs, Drive, YouTube, and Android. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Gemini Notebook is Google's research tool that answers strictly from the sources you add, with citations, and can turn them into summaries, audio, or analysis. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Git Git is a version-control system that records file changes. It lets you inspect history, work on branches, and return to earlier states. Git is separate from GitHub. Read the explanation
- Tools & services GitHub GitHub is an online development platform for hosting Git repositories, sharing code and documents, reviewing changes, and automating tests and deployment. Read the explanation
- Tools & services GitHub Copilot GitHub Copilot is an AI programming assistant, from code completion through to carrying out changes. It popularized pairing with AI to write software. Read the explanation
- Tools & services gogcli gogcli is an open source command line tool for operating Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, and Tasks from a terminal. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Google AI Pro Google AI Pro is the consumer paid plan that raises limits across Google's AI features and bundles Google One storage. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Google AI Studio Google AI Studio is the browser workspace for trying Gemini models, tuning prompts, getting an API key, and seeing the code to build them into an app. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Google Analytics measures how websites and apps are used. GA4 is the current version, recording behavior as events. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Google DeepMind Google DeepMind is Google's central AI research organization, known for AlphaGo and AlphaFold and now developing Gemini. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Google Tasks Google Tasks is Google's lightweight task manager, with due dates, subtasks, and repeats, synchronized across your Google account. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Grok Grok is the conversational AI from xAI, distinguished by its integration with X and its strength on real-time discussion. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Groq Groq builds inference hardware and the GroqCloud platform for running AI models fast. It is a different company from Grok. Read the explanation
H
- Tools & services HeyGen HeyGen generates video of an AI avatar speaking a script, and can build a digital twin from footage and audio of you. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Hugging Face Hugging Face is the largest platform for sharing AI models and datasets — the center of open AI development, often called GitHub for AI. Read the explanation
I
K
- Tools & services Kimi Kimi is Moonshot AI's assistant, combining chat, web research, document creation, data analysis, and website building in one workspace. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Kling AI Kling AI is Kuaishou's video and image generation service, producing video from text or images with editing and audio generation. Read the explanation
L
- Tools & services Llama Llama is Meta's series of open large language models. Free to use commercially under its license, it anchors the open AI ecosystem. Read the explanation
- Tools & services LM Studio LM Studio is a desktop app for downloading published AI models to your own computer and running them as chat or as a local API. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Lovable Lovable turns a description in natural language into a working web app, including screens, database, and authentication, ready to publish. Read the explanation
M
- Tools & services Manus Manus is a general-purpose AI agent service: give it a goal and it plans and carries out research and document production on its own. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Meta AI Meta AI is Meta's assistant, available as its own app and web interface and built into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Microsoft Copilot Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, available inside Windows and Office applications such as Word and Excel. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Midjourney Midjourney is an image generation service known for the artistic quality of its output, and a long-standing favorite among professional creators. Read the explanation
- Tools & services MiniMax MiniMax develops models across text, speech, music, image, and video, and offers services including Hailuo AI and MiniMax Agent. Read the explanation
N
- Tools & services n8n n8n is a workflow tool for connecting apps and APIs to automate routine work, including AI steps. It runs as a cloud service or self-hosted. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Notion AI Notion AI is the AI built into the Notion notes and documents tool, offering assistance while you write and search within your own pages. Read the explanation
O
- Tools & services Obsidian Obsidian is a knowledge-management app that stores notes as local Markdown files and lets you connect them into a personal knowledge base. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Ollama Ollama is a free tool for running local LLMs easily, handling download and execution in a single command. It is the usual starting point for local AI. Read the explanation
- Tools & services OpenAI OpenAI is the American company behind ChatGPT and the GPT series, the organization that set off the generative AI boom. Read the explanation
- Tools & services OpenRouter OpenRouter provides access to AI models from many companies through a single API and a single balance. Read the explanation
P
- Tools & services Perplexity Perplexity is an AI search service that searches the web and answers with citations, replacing the open-and-compare habit of ordinary search. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Poe Poe gives you AI models from several companies, plus bots built by other users, through one app. Read the explanation
R
- Tools & services Replit Agent Replit Agent plans, writes, tests, and deploys applications from a description in ordinary language, entirely in the browser. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Runway Runway is a video generation and editing tool for creators, and one of the longest-established names in video AI. Read the explanation
S
- Tools & services Siri AI Siri AI is the new generation of Siri running on Apple Intelligence, able to use personal context and on-screen content to answer and to operate apps. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Sora Sora is OpenAI's video generation model, producing photorealistic footage from text and symbolizing the arrival of video AI. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Stable Diffusion Stable Diffusion is an image generation model published openly, free to download and run on your own machine, which spread it worldwide. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Suno Suno generates complete songs with vocals from a description or your own lyrics, with no musical training required. Read the explanation
V
- Tools & services v0 v0 is Vercel's AI development service, generating UI and web apps from a description or a reference image, through to data and deployment. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Veo Veo is Google DeepMind's video generation model, producing high-quality footage together with matching audio. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Vibe (formerly Le Chat) Vibe is Mistral AI's integrated agent for work, coding, and chat. It was renamed from Le Chat in June 2026. Read the explanation
- Tools & services Visual Intelligence Visual Intelligence is Apple's feature for understanding what the iPhone camera or screen is showing, and turning it into search or an action. Read the explanation
W
Fundamentals62 terms
Core concepts that help explain how AI works.
A
- Fundamentals AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) AGI is the idea of an AI that can handle a wide range of intellectual work at human level, rather than being limited to one narrow task. It is the stated goal of many leading AI companies. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI (Artificial Intelligence) AI is an umbrella term for computer technologies that perform tasks associated with human intelligence, such as understanding, prediction, and decision-making. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI and Copyright Copyright questions about AI fall into two separate areas: whether protected works can be used as training data, and who owns AI output and whether it infringes existing works. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Bias AI bias is skew in a model's judgments or output. It usually originates in the training data, and it matters most where decisions are expected to be fair. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Coding AI coding covers any development work done with AI assistance, from inline completion to agents that read a repository, write changes, and run tests. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Credits AI credits are a service-specific unit that measures how much you have used features such as image generation or AI agents. Paid plans usually include a monthly allowance. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Hallucination An AI hallucination is a fluent, confident answer that contains invented or incorrect facts. Important names, dates, numbers, and sources require verification. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Literacy AI literacy is the knowledge and judgment needed to understand what AI is good and bad at, and to use it well. It is increasingly treated as a basic skill rather than a specialty. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Memory AI memory lets an assistant carry your preferences and past context into new conversations. It is distinct from the context of a single chat and from training the underlying model. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Model An AI model learns patterns from large amounts of data and then predicts or generates output from new input. It is the engine inside a product such as ChatGPT. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals AI Search AI search looks across the web for you, reads multiple sources, and returns an answer written as prose. Most services show the source links alongside the answer. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Alignment Alignment is the research and engineering work of making an AI's goals and behavior match human intent and values. It is the central topic in AI safety. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals API (Application Programming Interface) An API is a defined way for software to request data or functions from another service. AI APIs let developers add models to their own apps and workflows. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals API Key An API key is a secret string that identifies which account or project is calling an API, and controls permissions and usage. Treat it with the same care as a password. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) ASI describes an AI that would far exceed human intelligence across every field. It is discussed as the stage beyond AGI. Read the explanation
B
- Fundamentals Benchmark A benchmark is a standardized test used to compare AI models. Scores are a useful reference, not a definitive measure of usefulness for your work. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Branch A branch is a separate line of development in Git, letting you work on a feature or a fix without disturbing the stable version. Read the explanation
C
- Fundamentals Chatbot A chatbot is any program that converses with people through chat. Generative AI changed them from scripted responders into systems that hold a natural conversation. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals CLI (Command Line Interface) A CLI lets you operate a computer by typing commands instead of clicking. You work in a terminal, entering short instructions rather than using buttons and icons. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Clone Cloning copies a repository — its files and its history — from a service such as GitHub onto your own machine so you can start working with it. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Commit A commit records a selected set of changes into Git's history along with a message describing them. It is saved locally first, and is not sent anywhere until you push. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Context Engineering Context engineering is the practice of choosing what information an AI receives — instructions, source material, history, tools, memory — and shaping how it is delivered. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Context Window A context window is the amount of conversation, instructions, and source material an AI model can consider at once, measured in tokens. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Credentials Credentials are the information used to establish who someone is and whether they may use a service — passwords, API keys, access tokens, and certificates. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Custom Instructions Custom instructions store the tone, assumptions, and rules you want an assistant to follow, so they apply across conversations instead of being repeated each time. Read the explanation
D
- Fundamentals Deepfake A deepfake is a convincing fake image, video, or audio clip produced with AI. As quality improves, judging authenticity by eye is no longer reliable. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Deep Learning Deep learning trains many-layered neural networks modeled loosely on the brain. It is the technique behind almost every AI advance since the 2010s. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Deploy Deploying puts a site or application onto a server or runtime so that people can actually use it. It is a separate step from pushing code to a repository. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Design Harness A design harness is a working setup that gives an AI the design principles, references, procedure, and review method it needs to produce consistent screens. Read the explanation
F
- Fundamentals Fine-tuning Fine-tuning trains an existing model further on additional data to adapt it to a specific use, rather than building a model from scratch. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Foundation Model A foundation model is a large model pre-trained on vast data and reusable as a base for many purposes. GPT, Gemini, and Claude are the best-known examples. Read the explanation
G
- Fundamentals Generative AI Generative AI creates new text, images, audio, video, or code. ChatGPT and modern image generators are familiar examples. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) A GPU is a chip that performs huge numbers of calculations in parallel. Built originally for graphics, it became essential to training and running AI models. Read the explanation
I
K
L
- Fundamentals LLM (Large Language Model) A large language model, or LLM, is an AI model trained on large amounts of text. It is the language-processing engine behind services such as ChatGPT. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Local LLM A local LLM runs on your own computer or server instead of a cloud service, so your input never leaves the machine. Read the explanation
M
- Fundamentals Machine Learning Machine learning is the practice of having computers find patterns in data rather than following rules written by hand. Almost all current AI is built this way. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Markdown Markdown is a lightweight plain-text syntax for headings, lists, links, and emphasis. It is widely used in notes, documentation, GitHub, and AI instructions. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Merge Merging combines the changes from one Git branch into another. When both sides changed the same lines, you get a conflict that a person has to resolve. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Multimodal AI Multimodal AI can work with more than one type of information, such as text, images, audio, and video, within the same task. Read the explanation
N
O
- Fundamentals OAuth OAuth lets you grant an application limited access to a service without handing over your password. You approve a specific scope, and the app receives a token instead of your credentials. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals On-device AI On-device AI runs the processing on your phone or computer rather than in the cloud. It offers privacy, lower latency, and offline use, within the limits of the hardware. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Open Source Model An open source model is one whose weights are published, so anyone can download, run, and modify it. Because licenses vary, the term open weights is often more accurate. Read the explanation
P
- Fundamentals Parameter Parameters are the adjustable numbers inside a model. Parameter count is the most common shorthand for how large a model is. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Pre-training Pre-training is the first stage of building a model, where broad capability is acquired from a very large dataset. The P in GPT stands for it. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Prompt A prompt is the question or instruction given to an AI. Clear goals, context, constraints, and output formats usually produce better results. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Pull Pulling fetches new commits from a remote such as GitHub and integrates them into your current local branch. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Pull Request A pull request proposes merging one branch into another and provides a place to review, discuss, and approve the change before it lands. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Push Pushing sends commits from your local repository to a remote such as GitHub, making them available to everyone else. Read the explanation
R
S
- Fundamentals Second Brain A second brain is an external, digital store for what you want to remember, organized so you can retrieve and reuse it rather than holding it all in your head. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Singularity The singularity is the hypothesized point at which AI surpasses human intelligence and technological progress becomes too fast to predict. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Spec-Driven Development Spec-driven development puts a written specification at the center, and has AI and people implement, test, and update documentation against it. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Staging Staging is choosing which of your working changes go into the next commit. In Git the holding place for that selection is called the staging area, or the index. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Summarization Summarization selects the important information from a long text or conversation and restates it briefly. It is one of the most common uses of generative AI. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Synthetic Data Synthetic data is generated artificially rather than collected from the real world. It addresses shortages of training data, privacy constraints, and rare-case coverage. Read the explanation
T
- Fundamentals Token A token is a unit an AI model uses to process text. Context limits and most API pricing are measured in tokens rather than words or characters. Read the explanation
- Fundamentals Training Data Training data is the material a model learns from. Its quality and coverage largely determine what a model knows and where it is biased. Read the explanation
U
W
Models & technology50 terms
AI models and technologies such as LLMs, image generation, and training methods.
A
- Models & technology AI Agent An AI agent plans and performs multiple steps toward a goal. Unlike a chatbot that only answers, an agent can use tools and take actions. Read the explanation
- Models & technology App Intents App Intents is Apple's framework for exposing an app's actions and data to Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, and Apple Intelligence. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Apple Foundation Models Apple Foundation Models are the family of models behind Apple Intelligence, split between models that run on the device and models that run in Private Cloud Compute. Read the explanation
C
- Models & technology Claude Fable 5 Claude Fable 5 is Anthropic's top general-availability model, a Mythos-class system aimed at long, complex work and at turning vague requests into a design. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Claude Opus 4.8 Claude Opus 4.8 is Anthropic's high-capability model for coding, agents, and professional knowledge work — the practical choice for demanding everyday tasks. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Computer Use Computer use lets an AI look at a screen and click, type, and scroll — operating browsers and applications the way a person would. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Constitutional AI Constitutional AI gives a model an explicit set of principles and has it critique and revise its own answers against them. Anthropic developed the approach. Read the explanation
D
- Models & technology Deep Research Deep Research has an AI work through many sources autonomously and produce a cited research report. It compresses hours of background reading into minutes. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Diffusion Model A diffusion model generates an image by starting from noise and removing it step by step. Most image generation AI works this way. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Distillation Distillation transfers the capability of a large model into a smaller one, which is how capable AI ends up running on a phone. Read the explanation
E
F
- Models & technology FLUX FLUX is a family of image generation and editing models from Black Forest Labs, usable through several services or run locally. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Foundation Models framework The Foundation Models framework is Apple's developer API for using large language models from an app — summarization, generation, image understanding, and tool calling. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Function Calling Function calling lets a model invoke external capabilities such as search or calculation when its own knowledge is not enough. It is what turns a chatbot into something that acts. Read the explanation
G
- Models & technology GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) A GAN trains two networks against each other — one generating data, one judging it — until the generated output is indistinguishable from real data. Read the explanation
- Models & technology GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) GPT is OpenAI's series of large language models. It is the engine inside ChatGPT and the model family that set off the generative AI boom. Read the explanation
- Models & technology GPT-5.6 GPT-5.6 is OpenAI's model family in three tiers — Sol at the top, Terra for everyday work, and Luna for fast, low-cost processing. Read the explanation
- Models & technology GPTs GPTs let you build a customized ChatGPT for a specific purpose without code, and share it with others. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Grounding Grounding ties an AI's answer to a verifiable source — search results, documents you supplied, or a database — in order to reduce hallucination. Read the explanation
I
K
L
M
- Models & technology MCP (Model Context Protocol) MCP is an open standard for connecting AI applications to tools and data. It gives different AI clients a common way to use compatible services. Read the explanation
- Models & technology MLX MLX is Apple's open source framework for running machine learning efficiently on Apple silicon, widely used for local LLMs and agents on the Mac. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Multi-Agent System A multi-agent system has several AI agents divide the roles and pass information and results between them to complete one goal. Read the explanation
N
- Models & technology Nano Banana Nano Banana is Google DeepMind's family of Gemini image generation and editing models, ranging from a fast Lite tier to a quality-focused Pro tier. Read the explanation
- Models & technology NLP (Natural Language Processing) NLP is the field of getting computers to understand, analyze, and generate human language. It underlies translation, search, and chat assistants. Read the explanation
- Models & technology NPU (Neural Processing Unit) An NPU is a processor dedicated to running AI workloads quickly at low power. It is what makes on-device AI practical on phones and laptops. Read the explanation
O
P
- Models & technology Predictive AI Predictive AI learns patterns from past and present data to predict values, classifications, or likelihoods for new data. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Private Cloud Compute Private Cloud Compute runs AI requests too heavy for the device on Apple silicon servers, designed so that personal data is not retained or accessible to Apple. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Prompt Engineering Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and improving instructions so an AI produces a more useful, reliable, and correctly formatted result. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Prompt Injection Prompt injection uses crafted input to override a model's standing instructions and make it behave in ways its developers did not intend. Read the explanation
Q
- Models & technology Quantization Quantization compresses a model by deliberately reducing the numeric precision of its parameters. It is why local LLMs run on ordinary computers. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Qwen Qwen is Alibaba's family of language and multimodal models, spanning text, images, audio, and code, with many released as open weights. Read the explanation
R
- Models & technology RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) RAG has a model retrieve relevant material before answering and write its response from that material. It is the standard way to give AI current, source-backed knowledge. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Reasoning Model A reasoning model takes time to think in stages before answering, which raises accuracy on mathematics and other complex problems. Read the explanation
- Models & technology RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) RLHF trains a model against human preferences to improve how it responds. It is why assistants like ChatGPT feel helpful rather than merely knowledgeable. Read the explanation
S
- Models & technology Semantic Search Semantic search finds information by closeness of meaning rather than matching keywords, so differently worded text with the same intent still surfaces. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Sol, Terra, and Luna Sol, Terra, and Luna are the three capability tiers of GPT-5.6 — Sol for hard problems, Terra for everyday work, Luna for fast, high-volume processing. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Speech Recognition Speech recognition converts spoken words into text. It underlies transcription, voice input, and the listening half of voice conversation with AI. Read the explanation
- Models & technology System Prompt A system prompt is the standing instruction given to a model before a conversation begins. An assistant's persona and its rules come from it. Read the explanation
T
- Models & technology Text-to-Speech (TTS) Text-to-speech generates human-sounding speech from written text. AI narration has reached the point of being hard to distinguish from a recording. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Transformer The Transformer is the neural network architecture introduced in 2017. Its attention mechanism handles context well, and it underpins essentially every modern LLM. Read the explanation
V
- Models & technology Vector Database A vector database stores large numbers of embeddings and finds the ones closest in meaning quickly. It is the retrieval layer underneath RAG. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Vibe Coding Vibe coding means describing what you want in natural language and letting the AI write the code, judging by whether it works rather than reading every line. Read the explanation
- Models & technology Video Generation AI Video generation AI produces moving footage from text or a single image. Output now approaches live-action realism and is changing how video gets made. Read the explanation
W
- Models & technology Whisper Whisper is OpenAI's speech recognition model. Released openly and free to use, it became the default component inside transcription tools. Read the explanation
- Models & technology World Model A world model is an AI's internal model of how an environment behaves, used to predict what happens next in response to time and action. Read the explanation