AI words in plain English
The words you will meet, explained in one or two lines each.
- Academic honesty
Doing your own work and saying clearly when and how you used help, including AI, as your school allows.
- Agent
An AI set up to take several steps on its own toward a goal, such as searching, filling a form or sending a message. It needs clear limits.
- AI (artificial intelligence)
Computer programs that do tasks we used to think only people could do, like writing, answering questions or recognising pictures.
- Answer key
The correct answers to a worksheet or test. Always check an AI-made answer key yourself.
No. 6.02 Make a worksheet at three levels, with an answer key →
- Apps Script
A free tool inside Google Sheets that runs small programs to automate work. AI can write the script; you test it.
- ATS (applicant tracking system)
Software many companies use to collect and sort job applications. Clear headings and plain text help it read your resume.
- Automation
Letting software do a repeated task for you, like sending reminders or cleaning a sheet every week.
- Bias
When AI answers unfairly lean one way, because of the data it learned from. Check answers about people and groups with extra care.
- Brief
A short, clear prompt that gives the AI a role, a task, the context and the format you want.
- Chat history
The earlier messages in a chat. The AI uses them for your next answer, so start a new chat for a new topic.
- Chatbot
An AI tool you talk to by typing or speaking. It answers in the same chat.
Example ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok are chatbots.
- Code
Written instructions a computer follows. You can ask AI to write simple code and test it without learning to program first.
- Context
The background the AI needs to answer well: who you are, who the answer is for, and any facts it must use.
Example "I run a small bakery in Pune and reply to customers on WhatsApp."
- Context window
How much text the AI can read and remember in one chat. Very long chats or files may go past it, and early parts get forgotten.
- Deepfake
A fake video, photo or voice made with AI to look or sound like a real person.
- Fact-check
Checking a claim in a source you trust before you use it: an official site, your records or an expert.
- Few-shot prompting
Giving the AI one or more examples of what you want before you ask. The examples teach it the style.
- Follow-up
A second message that improves the first answer, instead of starting again.
Example "Shorter, and remove the second paragraph."
- Format
The shape you want the answer in: a list, a table, steps, a word limit or a tone.
- Formula
An instruction in a spreadsheet cell that calculates something, like a total. AI can write formulas for you.
- Free plan
The no-cost version of a tool. It usually has daily limits, and the limits change. Check the tool's own page.
- Gemini Notebook
A free Google tool that answers questions using only the documents you upload, and shows where each answer came from. It used to be called NotebookLM.
No. 2.05 Summarise a long document without losing the key points →
- Generative AI
AI that makes new content: text, images, audio or video.
- Hallucination
When AI states something false as if it were true, such as a fake fact, number, law or link.
- Hook
The first line of a post or video that makes people stop and pay attention.
No. 3.02 Write a 30-second video script with a strong hook →
- HTML
The language web pages are written in. One HTML file can be a small working tool you open in a browser.
- Image generator
An AI tool that makes a picture from a text description.
- Image prompt
The description you give an image generator: subject, style, colours, layout and what to leave out.
- Knowledge cutoff
The date after which a model has no training data. It may not know about recent events unless it can search the web.
- Large language model (LLM)
The kind of AI behind chatbots. It learned from a very large amount of text and predicts good next words.
- Mock interview
A practice interview. AI can ask questions one at a time and give feedback on your answers.
- Model
The AI system itself. One company can offer several models; some are faster, some are better at hard tasks.
- Placeholder
A blank in square brackets, like [your number], that keeps private details out of a prompt. You fill it in later.
- Privacy
Keeping personal and private information safe. Never paste OTPs, IDs, bank details or other people's data into a chatbot.
- Prompt
What you type to the AI: your question, request or instructions.
- Speech-to-text
AI that turns spoken words into typed text, like voice typing.
- Summarise
Ask the AI to shorten a long text into the main points. Always tell it who the summary is for.
No. 2.05 Summarise a long document without losing the key points →
- Template
A reusable text with blanks you fill each time, like [customer name] or [date].
- Text-to-speech (TTS)
AI that reads text aloud in a computer voice.
- Token
A small piece of text, often part of a word, that AI counts. Limits on how much you can paste are often counted in tokens.
- Tone
How the writing sounds: formal, friendly, firm, simple. Show the AI an example of your tone to get it right.
- Training data
The text, pictures or other material an AI learned from. It can be old, incomplete or biased.
- Voice cloning
Using AI to copy a person's voice from a short recording. Scammers use it to fake calls from family or bosses.
- Web search (in a chatbot)
Some chatbots can look things up online while they answer. Ask for the links and open them to check.