What is AI? An A-Z guide to artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is arguably the most important technological development of our time – here are some of the terms that you need to know as the world wrestles with what to do with this new technology.

Imagine going back in time to the 1970s, and trying to explain to somebody what it means « to google », what a « URL » is, or why it’s good to have « fibre-optic broadband ». You’d probably struggle.

For every major technological revolution, there is a concomitant wave of new language that we all have to learn… until it becomes so familiar that we forget that we never knew it.

That’s no different for the next major technological wave – artificial intelligence. Yet understanding this language of AI will be essential as we all – from governments to individual citizens – try to grapple with the risks, and benefits that this emerging technology might pose.

Over the past few years, multiple new terms related to AI have emerged – « alignment », « large language models », « hallucination » or « prompt engineering », to name a few.

To help you stay up to speed, BBC.com has compiled an A-Z of words you need to know to understand how AI is shaping our world.

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