A comprehensive AI dictionary designed specifically for founders, makers, product people, and marketers — with or without a technical background.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved over the past decade, paving the way for an ever-increasing array of applications and innovations. As a result, a wealth of complex terms, concepts, and technologies has emerged, making it challenging for even the most technically-minded individuals to keep up with the latest advancements.

To facilitate a deeper understanding of generative AI and its various components, this comprehensive A-Z guide has been designed specifically for founders, makers, product people, and marketers with or without a technical background.

This glossary aims to cover essential terminology associated with generative AI, offering concise and informative explanations that cater to both novice and experienced professionals.

Each term is explained in two ways:

1) in simple terms that a 16-year-old could understand

2) in a more technical manner suitable for software developers.

By exploring the intricacies of these terms, you'll gain a solid foundation to navigate the vast and rapidly evolving AI landscape confidently.

—

A. Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence

Algorithm

• 16-year-old: An algorithm is like a recipe, a set of instructions that tells a computer what to do to solve a problem or make a decision.
• Developer: An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for calculations that takes inputs, processes them, and produces an output, often used for problem-solving and data manipulation in computer programming.

(Citation: Cormen, T. H., Leiserson, C. E., Rivest, R. L., & Stein, C. (2009). Introduction to algorithms. MIT press.)

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• 16-year-old: AI is when a computer can do things that usually require human intelligence, like playing games, recognizing faces, or having a conversation.
• Developer: AI refers to the development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human cognitive functions, using machine learning, natural language processing, and other techniques.

(Citation: Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2016). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson.)

B. Brains and Backpropagation