AI-Glossary: A–Z

Quickly explained. Direct Navigation. From Algorithm to Zero-Shot Learning.

A

Algorithm
A set of instructions for solving a problem or performing a computation.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The field of computer science focused on creating systems that can perform tasks requiring human-like intelligence.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
A hypothetical AI system capable of performing any intellectual task a human can do.
Adversarial Attack
A technique where small, intentional changes to input data cause an AI model to make errors.
Agent
An AI entity that perceives its environment and takes actions to achieve goals.
Attention Mechanism
A neural network component that helps models focus on relevant parts of input data, widely used in transformers.
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B

Backpropagation
The process of training neural networks by adjusting weights based on errors.
Bias (Algorithmic)
Systematic unfairness in AI outputs, often caused by skewed training data.
Big Data
Extremely large datasets used to train AI models.
Black Box Model
An AI system whose decision-making process is not easily interpretable.
Bayesian Network
A probabilistic model representing variables and their conditional dependencies.
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C

Chatbot
An AI system designed to simulate conversation with humans.
Classifier
A model that assigns categories to input data.
Clustering
An unsupervised learning technique for grouping similar data points.
Computer Vision
The AI field focused on enabling machines to interpret visual data.
Concept Drift
When the statistical properties of data change over time, reducing model accuracy.
Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)
A neural network architecture specialized for image processing.
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D

Data Mining
Extracting useful patterns or insights from large datasets.
Data Poisoning
Malicious manipulation of training data to corrupt model performance.
Decision Tree
A simple model that makes predictions by following rules based on feature values.
Deep Learning
A subset of machine learning using multi-layered neural networks.
Diffusion Models
Generative AI models that create images or other data by iteratively removing noise.
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E

Edge AI
Running AI models directly on devices (phones, IoT) rather than in the cloud.
Embeddings
Numerical representations of data (like words or images) that capture meaning and relationships.
Ensemble Learning
Combining multiple models to improve prediction accuracy.
Explainable AI (XAI)
Techniques to make AI decisions transparent and understandable.
Evolutionary Algorithm
An optimization method inspired by natural selection.
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F

Federated Learning
Training AI models across decentralized devices while keeping data local.
Feature Engineering
Selecting and transforming input variables to improve model performance.
Fine-Tuning
Adapting a pre-trained model to a specific task or dataset.
Foundation Model
Large, general-purpose models (e.g., GPT, BERT) used as a base for multiple tasks.
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G

Generative AI
AI that creates new content such as text, images, or music.
Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)
A model where two networks (generator and discriminator) compete to create realistic data.
Gradient Descent
An optimization algorithm used to minimize error in training neural networks.
Graph Neural Network (GNN)
A neural network designed to process graph-structured data.
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H

Hallucination (AI)
When an AI system produces false or fabricated information with confidence.
Heuristic
A practical rule-of-thumb method for problem-solving, not guaranteed to be optimal.
Hyperparameters
Settings that control how a model is trained (e.g., learning rate, batch size).
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I

Inference
Using a trained AI model to make predictions on new data.
Interpretability
The degree to which humans can understand how a model makes decisions.
Intelligent Agent
A system that perceives, decides, and acts in an environment to achieve goals.
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J

Jailbreak (AI)
A method to bypass safety or ethical constraints built into an AI system.
Jupyter Notebook
An open-source tool used for coding, visualizations, and AI experiments.
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K

Knowledge Graph
A structured representation of entities and their relationships.
K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)
A simple algorithm that classifies data based on the closest examples in memory.
Kernel Method
Techniques in machine learning that transform data into higher dimensions for better separability.
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L

Large Language Model (LLM)
An AI system trained on massive text datasets to generate human-like language.
Latent Space
A compressed, abstract representation of data inside a model.
Learning Rate
A hyperparameter that controls how much weights are updated during training.
Logistic Regression
A model used for binary classification tasks.
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M

Machine Learning (ML)
A branch of AI where systems learn from data rather than being explicitly programmed.
Markov Decision Process (MDP)
A mathematical framework for decision-making in uncertain environments.
Meta-Learning
“Learning to learn,” where models adapt quickly to new tasks.
Model Drift
When a model’s performance degrades because real-world data changes.
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N

Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI focused on understanding and generating human language.
Neural Network
A system of interconnected nodes (neurons) inspired by the human brain.
Normalization
Adjusting data values to a consistent scale for training.
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O

Overfitting
When a model learns the training data too well, including noise, and performs poorly on new data.
Ontology
A formal representation of concepts and relationships in a domain.
Optimization
The process of adjusting parameters to minimize error or maximize reward.
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P

Parameter
Internal values in a model (like weights in a neural network) learned during training.
Perceptron
One of the earliest types of neural networks, capable of binary classification.
Pretraining
Initial training of a large model on broad data before fine-tuning for specific tasks.
Prompt Engineering
The practice of crafting inputs to guide AI outputs effectively.
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Q

Q-Learning
A reinforcement learning algorithm that learns the value of actions in states.
Quantum Machine Learning
The use of quantum computing techniques to improve AI algorithms.
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R

Reinforcement Learning (RL)
Training agents through rewards and penalties for actions.
Regularization
Techniques to prevent overfitting by constraining models.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Combining information retrieval with generative models for more accurate results.
Robotics
The integration of AI into machines capable of physical action.
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S

Scalability
The ability of a model or system to handle increasing amounts of data or computation.
Semi-Supervised Learning
Training models on a mix of labeled and unlabeled data.
Speech Recognition
AI systems that convert spoken language into text.
Supervised Learning
Training models using labeled datasets.
Swarm Intelligence
AI inspired by the collective behavior of decentralized systems (ants, bees, etc.).
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T

Tokenization
Breaking down text into smaller units (tokens) for processing by models.
Transformer
A neural architecture that uses attention mechanisms, central to modern LLMs.
Transfer Learning
Reusing a pre-trained model on a new, related task.
Turing Test
A test of a machine’s ability to exhibit human-like intelligence in conversation.
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U

Unsupervised Learning
Training models on unlabeled data to find hidden structures or patterns.
Underfitting
When a model is too simple to capture the complexity of data.
Uncertainty Quantification
Measuring confidence in AI predictions.
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V

Variational Autoencoder (VAE)
A generative model used for creating new data from latent representations.
Vector Database
A database designed for storing and querying embeddings.
Vision Transformer (ViT)
A transformer architecture adapted for image recognition tasks.
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W

Weak AI
AI designed for narrow tasks, unlike AGI which would cover general intelligence.
Weight
The numerical value in a neural network that determines the strength of connections between nodes.
Word Embeddings
Vector representations of words that capture semantic meaning.
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X

XAI (Explainable AI)
Methods and techniques for making AI decisions understandable.
XOR Problem
A classic issue in neural networks that led to the development of multi-layer perceptrons.
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Y

YOLO (You Only Look Once)
A real-time object detection system used in computer vision.
Yield Curve Modeling (AI in Finance)
The application of AI to predict shifts in financial markets.
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Z

Zero-Shot Learning
The ability of a model to perform tasks without prior explicit training examples.
Z-Score Normalization
A statistical method for scaling data before feeding it into AI models.
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