Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Definitions

This glossary explains the meaning of key words and phrases that information technology (IT) and business professionals use when discussing artificial intelligence and related software products. You can find additional definitions by visiting WhatIs.com or using the search box below.

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  • A

    AI readiness: What is it, and is your business ready?

    Artificial intelligence (AI) readiness encompasses all the elements, processes and steps needed to prepare an organization to implement AI systems.

  • AI watermarking

    AI watermarking is the process of embedding a recognizable, unique signal into the output of an artificial intelligence model, such as text or an image, to identify that content as AI generated.

  • AI winter

    AI winter is a quiet period for artificial intelligence research and development.

  • algorithmic transparency

    Algorithmic transparency is openness about the purpose, structure and underlying actions of the algorithms used to search for, process and deliver information.

  • ambient intelligence (AmI)

    Ambient intelligence, sometimes referred to as AmI, is the element of a pervasive computing environment that enables it to interact with and respond appropriately to the humans in that environment.

  • artificial intelligence (AI) governance

    Artificial intelligence governance is the legal framework for ensuring AI and machine learning technologies are researched and developed with the goal of helping humanity adopt and use these systems in ethical and responsible ways.

  • artificial superintelligence (ASI)

    Artificial superintelligence (ASI) is a software-based system with intellectual powers beyond those of humans across a comprehensive range of categories and fields of endeavor.

  • assistive technology (adaptive technology)

    Assistive technology is a set of devices intended to help people who have disabilities.

  • automated machine learning (AutoML)

    Automated machine learning (AutoML) is the process of applying machine learning models to real-world problems using automation.

  • automated reasoning

    Automated reasoning is the area of computer science concerned with applying reasoning in the form of logic to computing systems.

  • What is adversarial machine learning?

    Adversarial machine learning is a technique used in machine learning (ML) to fool or misguide a model with malicious input.

  • What is AgentGPT?

    AgentGPT is a generative artificial intelligence tool that enables users to create autonomous AI agents that can be delegated a range of tasks.

  • What is agentic AI? Complete guide

    Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that are capable of autonomous action and decision-making.

  • What is AI art and how is it created?

    Artificial intelligence art (AI art) is any form of art that has been created or enhanced with AI tools.

  • What is AI red teaming?

    AI red teaming is the practice of simulating attack scenarios on an artificial intelligence application to pinpoint weaknesses and plan preventative measures.

  • What is AI? Artificial Intelligence explained

    Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.

  • What is Amazon Bedrock (AWS Bedrock)?

    Amazon Bedrock -- also known as AWS Bedrock -- is a machine learning platform used to build generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications on the Amazon Web Services cloud computing platform.

  • What is an AI accelerator?

    An AI accelerator is a type of hardware device that can efficiently support AI workloads.

  • What is an AI prompt engineer?

    An AI prompt engineer is an expert in creating text-based prompts or cues that can be interpreted and understood by large language models and generative AI tools.

  • What is an AI prompt?

    An artificial intelligence (AI) prompt is the input submitted to a large language model (LLM) via a generative AI platform, like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.

  • What is anomaly detection? An overview and explanation

    Anomaly detection is the process of identifying data points, entities or events that fall outside the normal range.

  • What is artificial general intelligence (AGI)?

    Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the representation of generalized human cognitive abilities in software so that, faced with an unfamiliar task, the AI system could find a solution.

  • What is artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS)?

    Artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS) is a cloud-based service that enables organizations to access artificial intelligence (AI) through a third-party offering.

  • What is augmented intelligence?

    Augmented intelligence is the use of technology to enhance a human's ability to execute tasks, perform analysis and make decisions.

  • What is autonomous AI?

    Autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of AI in which systems and tools are advanced enough to act with limited human oversight and involvement.

  • B

    BERT language model

    BERT language model is an open source machine learning framework for natural language processing (NLP).

  • What is a backpropagation algorithm?

    A backpropagation algorithm, or backward propagation of errors, is an algorithm that's used to help train neural network models.

  • What is Bayes' theorem? How is it used in machine learning?

    Bayes' theorem is a mathematical formula used in probability theory to calculate conditional probability, i.e., the revised likelihood of an outcome occurring given the knowledge of a related condition or previous outcome.

  • C

    case-based reasoning (CBR)

    Case-based reasoning (CBR) is an experience-based approach to solving new problems by adapting previously successful solutions to similar problems.

  • chain-of-thought prompting

    Chain-of-thought prompting is a prompt engineering technique that aims to improve language models' performance on tasks requiring logic, calculation and decision-making by structuring the input prompt in a way that mimics human reasoning.

  • cognitive bias

    Cognitive bias is a systematic thought process caused by the tendency of the human brain to simplify information processing through a filter of personal experience and preferences.

  • cognitive computing

    Cognitive computing is the use of computerized models to simulate the human thought process in complex situations where the answers might be ambiguous and uncertain.

  • cognitive modeling

    Cognitive modeling is an area of computer science that deals with simulating human problem-solving and mental processing in a computerized model.

  • cognitive search

    Cognitive search represents a new generation of enterprise search that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to improve users' search queries and extract relevant information from multiple diverse data sets.

  • crypto-agility

    Crypto-agility, or cryptographic agility, is a data encryption practice used by organizations to ensure a rapid response to a cryptographic threat.

  • What is a convolutional neural network (CNN)?

    A convolutional neural network (CNN) is a category of machine learning model. Specifically, it is a type of deep learning algorithm that is well suited to analyzing visual data.

  • What is clustering in machine learning and how does it work?

    Clustering is a data science technique in machine learning that groups similar rows in a data set.

  • What is computational linguistics? Definition and career info

    Computational linguistics (CL) is the application of computer science to the analysis and comprehension of written and spoken language.

  • What is conversational AI (conversational artificial intelligence)?

    Conversational AI, also known as conversational artificial intelligence, is a type of AI that enables computers to understand, process and generate human language.

  • D

    data dignity

    Data dignity, also known as data as labor, is a theory positing that people should be compensated for the data they have created.

  • data scientist

    A data scientist is an analytics professional who is responsible for collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to help drive decision-making in an organization.

  • data splitting

    Data splitting is when data is divided into two or more subsets. Typically, with a two-part split, one part is used to evaluate or test the data and the other for training the model.

  • deconvolutional networks (deconvolutional neural networks)

    Deconvolutional networks are convolutional neural networks (CNN) that work in a reversed process.

  • deep tech

    Deep technology, or deep tech, refers to advanced technologies based on some form of substantial scientific or engineering innovation.

  • dropout

    Dropout refers to data, or noise, that's intentionally dropped from a neural network to improve processing and time to results.

  • What is a decision tree in machine learning?

    A decision tree is a flow chart created by a computer algorithm to make decisions or numeric predictions based on information in a digital data set.

  • What is Dall-E and how does it work?

    Dall-E is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology that enables users to create images by submitting text-based prompts.

  • What is data poisoning (AI poisoning) and how does it work?

    Data or AI poisoning attacks are deliberate attempts to manipulate the training data of artificial intelligence and machine learning models to corrupt their behavior and elicit skewed, biased or harmful outputs.

  • What is data science? The ultimate guide

    Data science is the process of using advanced analytics techniques and scientific principles to analyze data and extract valuable information for business decision-making, strategic planning and other uses.

  • What is deep learning and how does it work?

    Deep learning is a type of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) that trains computers to learn from extensive data sets in a way that simulates human cognitive processes.

  • E

    edge AI

    Edge artificial intelligence (edge AI) is a paradigm for crafting AI workflows that span centralized data centers (the cloud) and devices outside the cloud that are closer to humans and physical things (the edge).

  • expert system

    An expert system is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to simulate the judgment and behavior of a human or an organization that has expertise and experience in a particular field.

  • What is embodied AI? How it powers autonomous systems

    Embodied AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that interact with and can learn from their environments using a suite of technologies that include sensors, motors, machine learning and natural language processing.

  • F

    facial recognition

    Facial recognition is a category of biometric software that maps an individual's facial features to confirm their identity.

  • fuzzy logic

    Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false" (1 or 0) Boolean logic on which the modern computer is based.

  • What is face detection and how does it work?

    Face detection, also called facial detection, is a computer technology that identifies human faces in digital images and video.

  • What is fine-tuning in machine learning and AI?

    Fine-tuning is the process of taking a pretrained machine learning model and further training it on a smaller, targeted data set.

  • What is Fréchet inception distance (FID)?

    Fréchet inception distance (FID) is a metric for quantifying the realism and diversity of images generated by generative adversarial networks (GANs).

  • G

    generative modeling

    Generative modeling is the use of artificial intelligence (AI), statistics and probability in applications to produce a representation or abstraction of observed phenomena or target variables that can be calculated from observations.

  • GPT-3

    GPT-3, or the third-generation Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a neural network machine learning model trained using internet data to generate any type of text.

  • gradient descent

    Gradient descent is an optimization algorithm that refines a machine learning (ML) model's parameters to create a more accurate model.

  • What are graph neural networks (GNNs)?

    Graph neural networks (GNNs) are a type of neural network architecture and deep learning method that can help users analyze graphs, enabling them to make predictions based on the data described by a graph's nodes and edges.

  • What is a generative adversarial network (GAN)?

    A generative adversarial network (GAN) is a machine learning (ML) model in which two neural networks compete by using deep learning methods to become more accurate in their predictions.

  • What is Gemma? Google's open sourced AI model explained

    Gemma is a collection of lightweight open source generative AI models designed mainly for developers and researchers.

  • What is Gen AI? Generative AI explained

    Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data.

  • What is Google Gemini (formerly Bard)

    Google Gemini -- formerly called Bard -- is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot tool designed by Google to simulate human conversations using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning.

  • I

    IBM Watson supercomputer

    Watson was a supercomputer designed and developed by IBM. This advanced computer combined artificial intelligence (AI), automation and sophisticated analytics capabilities to deliver optimal performance as a 'question answering' machine.

  • image recognition

    Image recognition, in the context of machine vision, is the ability of software to identify objects, places, people, writing and actions in digital images.

  • intelligent process automation (IPA)

    Intelligent process automation (IPA) is a combination of technologies used to manage and automate digital processes.

  • What is an intelligent agent?

    An intelligent agent is a program that can make decisions or perform a service based on its environment, user input and experiences.

  • What is image-to-image translation?

    Image-to-image translation is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) technique that translates a source image into a target image while preserving certain visual properties of the original image.

  • What is the inception score (IS)?

    The inception score (IS) is a mathematical algorithm used to measure or determine the quality of images created by generative AI through a generative adversarial network (GAN).

  • K

    knowledge engineering

    Knowledge engineering is a field of artificial intelligence (AI) that tries to emulate the judgment and behavior of a human expert in a given field.

  • What is a knowledge graph in ML (machine learning)?

    In the realm of machine learning (ML), a knowledge graph is a graphical representation that captures the connections between different entities.

  • L

    LangChain

    LangChain is an open source framework that lets software developers working with artificial intelligence (AI) and its machine learning subset combine large language models with other external components to develop LLM-powered applications.

  • large language model operations (LLMOps)

    Large language model operations (LLMOps) is a methodology for managing, deploying, monitoring and maintaining LLMs in production environments.

  • lemmatization

    Lemmatization is the process of grouping together different inflected forms of the same word.

  • What is language modeling?

    Language modeling, or LM, is the use of various statistical and probabilistic techniques to determine the probability of a given sequence of words occurring in a sentence. Language models analyze bodies of text data to provide a basis for their word predictions.

  • What is linear regression?

    Linear regression is a statistical technique that identifies the relationship between the mean value of one variable and the corresponding values of one or more other variables.

  • M

    machine learning engineer (ML engineer)

    A machine learning engineer (ML engineer) is a person in IT who focuses on researching, building and designing self-running artificial intelligence (AI) systems to automate predictive models.

  • machine teaching

    Machine teaching is the practice of infusing context -- and often business consequences -- into the selection of training data used in machine learning (ML) so that the most relevant outputs are produced by the ML algorithms.

  • What are masked language models (MLMs)?

    Masked language models (MLMs) are used in natural language processing (NLP) tasks for training language models.

  • What is machine learning bias (AI bias)?

    Machine learning bias, also known as 'algorithm bias' or 'AI bias,' is a phenomenon that occurs when an algorithm produces results that are systemically prejudiced due to erroneous assumptions in the machine learning (ML) process.

  • What is machine learning? Guide, definition and examples

    Machine learning is a branch of AI focused on building computer systems that learn from data.

  • What is machine translation?

    Machine translation technology enables the conversion of text or speech from one language to another using computer algorithms.

  • What is machine vision?

    Machine vision is the ability of a computer to see; it employs one or more video cameras, analog-to-digital conversion and digital signal processing.

  • What is multimodal AI? Full guide

    Multimodal AI is artificial intelligence that combines multiple types, or modes, of data to create more accurate determinations, draw insightful conclusions or make more precise predictions about real-world problems.

  • N

    neural net processor

    A neural net processor is a central processing unit (CPU) that holds the modeled workings of how a human brain operates on a single chip.

  • neural radiance field (NeRF)

    Neural radiance fields (NeRF) are a technique that generates 3D representations of an object or scene from 2D images by using advanced machine learning.

  • neuromorphic computing

    Neuromorphic computing is a method of computer engineering in which elements of a computer are modeled after systems in the human brain and nervous system.

  • neurosynaptic chip

    A neurosynaptic chip, also known as a cognitive chip, is a computer processor that is designed to function more like a biological brain than a typical central processing unit (CPU).

  • What is a neural network?

    A neural network is a machine learning (ML) model designed to process data in a way that mimics the function and structure of the human brain.

  • What is narrow AI (weak AI)?

    Narrow AI is an application of artificial intelligence technologies to enable a high-functioning system that replicates -- and perhaps surpasses -- human intelligence for a dedicated purpose.

  • What is natural language generation (NLG)?

    Natural language generation (NLG) is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) programming to produce written or spoken narratives from a data set.

  • What is natural language processing (NLP)?

    Natural language processing (NLP) is the ability of a computer program to understand human language as it’s spoken and written -- referred to as natural language.

  • What is natural language understanding (NLU)?

    Natural language understanding (NLU) is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses computer software to understand input in the form of sentences using text or speech.

  • What is neuro-symbolic AI?

    Neuro-symbolic AI combines neural networks with rules-based symbolic processing techniques to improve artificial intelligence systems' accuracy, explainability and precision.

  • O

    What is OpenAI?

    OpenAI is a private research laboratory that aims to develop and direct artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that benefit humanity as a whole.

  • P

    predictive modeling

    Predictive modeling is a mathematical process used to predict future events or outcomes by analyzing patterns in a given set of input data.

  • prompt chaining

    Prompt chaining is a technique used when working with generative AI models in which the output from one prompt is used as input for the next.