AI Dictionary

AGENTS.md

A text file in a folder that tells AI coding agents how to behave there. Agents read it automatically.

AI agent

An AI program that can take actions for you, like writing code, filling forms or moving items, not just answering questions.

Also: AI agents, Agent, Agents

AI bubble

When investors pour so much money into AI that prices run far ahead of what the technology actually earns, raising the risk of a sharp fall.

Also: AI bubbles, bubble

AI slop

Low-quality content made quickly with AI and passed on without proper checking.

Also: Slop

API key

A secret code that lets a program use a paid online service. Anyone who steals it can run up your bill.

Also: API keys

B-roll

Extra footage shown over or between the main speaker shots to make a video more engaging.

Also: B roll, broll

Benchmark

A standard test used to compare AI models, like an exam everyone takes so scores can be compared.

Also: Benchmarks, eval, evals

Caching

Saving text the AI has already read so it can be reread cheaply instead of paying full price every time.

Also: Cache, prompt caching, cached

CAICT

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-backed research institute that publishes tech industry reports.

Also: China Academy of Information and Communications Technology

Cloud computing

Renting computers in someone else's data centre over the internet instead of buying your own.

Also: Cloud, cloud servers

Compaction

Squeezing a long AI conversation into a shorter summary so the AI has room to keep working.

Also: Compacting, context compaction

Computer use

When an AI controls a computer like a person does: looking at the screen, clicking and typing to get a task done.

Also: Computer-use, computer-use model

Context window

How much text an AI can keep in mind at once, like the size of its short-term memory.

Also: Context, context length

Cron job

A task set to run automatically on a schedule, like every morning at 9am.

Also: Cron, cron jobs, scheduled job

Defense in depth

Protecting something with several layers, so if one layer fails the others still keep it safe.

Also: Defence in depth, layered security

Dual-use item

A product, like an advanced chip, that has normal uses but could also help make weapons, so its trade is controlled.

Also: Dual-use

Embodied AI

AI that has a body, like a robot, so it can see, move and do physical work.

Also: EAI

Export control

Government rules that limit which goods can be sent to which countries.

Also: Export controls

Free trade zone

An area, often at an airport or port, where goods can be stored and passed on with fewer customs taxes and checks.

Frontier model

One of the newest and most powerful AI models, at the leading edge of what AI can do.

Also: Frontier AI model

GPU

A powerful computer chip, originally for graphics, that is now the main hardware used to train and run AI.

Also: GPUs, graphics chip

Graph break

When the software that prepares an AI model to run has to stop and split the model into smaller pieces, which makes it run slower.

Also: Graph breaks

Gross margin

The share of each sale left after paying the direct cost of making it. For AI firms that cost is mostly computer power.

Also: Gross margins

Hallucination

When an AI states something false or made up as if it were true.

Also: Hallucinations

Harness

The setup around an AI model (its tools, instructions, checks and helpers) that turns a model into a working agent.

Also: Harnesses, agent harness

Human in the loop

Keeping a person involved to check or approve what an AI does before it counts.

Also: HITL, human-in-the-loop

Humanoid robot

A robot built roughly in the shape of a person, with arms, a torso and often legs or wheels.

Also: Humanoid robots, Humanoid, Humanoids

IPO

An initial public offering: the first time a private company sells its shares to anyone on a stock market.

Also: Initial public offering, going public

Level 4 autonomy

A vehicle that drives itself with no human in a set area, like a factory or a fixed route.

Also: Level 4, L4

Local AI

Running an AI model on your own device instead of on a company's cloud servers.

Also: Local model, local models, on-device AI

Malware

Harmful software that steals data, spies on you or damages your computer.

Net revenue retention

How much existing customers spend this year compared with last year. Over 100% means they are spending more.

Also: NRR

No-code

Building software by describing or clicking what you want, without writing programming code.

Also: No code, nocode

Open weights

When a company publishes the trained model file so anyone can download and run it on their own hardware.

Also: Open-weight, open-weight model, open weight

Open-source

Software, or an AI model, whose code or files are published so anyone can use and change them.

Also: Open source, open-source software

Parameters

The internal numbers a model learns during training; more parameters usually means a bigger, more capable but costlier model.

Also: Parameter, params

Passkey

A way to sign in with your phone or fingerprint instead of a password, which scam websites can't steal.

Also: Passkeys

Patch

A small software update that fixes a bug or closes a security hole.

Also: Patches, security patch, backport

Personal agent

An AI helper connected to your own email, chats and files that can suggest and do tasks for you.

Also: Personal agents, personal AI agent

Price war

When companies keep cutting prices to win customers from each other.

Proactive agent

An AI helper that watches for things and acts or alerts you on its own, instead of waiting for a question.

Also: Proactive agents, proactive AI

Prompt injection

A trick where hidden instructions in a web page or file make an AI do something its user did not ask for.

Also: Indirect prompt injection

Proof of concept

A small trial to show an idea works before spending money to roll it out. Often shortened to PoC.

Also: PoC

Prospectus

A long official document a company files before an IPO, explaining its business, money and risks. In the US it is called an S-1.

Also: S-1, S-1 filing

Public benefit corporation

A type of US company that must weigh the good of the public, not only profit for shareholders.

Also: PBC, public benefit company

Pull request (PR)

A proposed change to a shared code project that a maintainer reviews before accepting it.

Also: Pull request, Pull requests, PR, PRs

R&D

Research and development: money and work spent inventing and improving products.

Also: Research and development

RAG

Retrieval-augmented generation: the AI first looks up your own documents, then answers using what it found.

Also: Retrieval-augmented generation

Rate limit

A cap on how many requests or messages you can send to an AI service in a set amount of time.

Also: Rate limits, rate limiting, usage limit

Red-teaming

Testing a system by attacking it on purpose, like friendly burglars, to find weak spots before real attackers do.

Also: Red team, red-teamers

Robotic process automation

Software 'robots' that click through computer screens and forms the way a person would, following fixed steps.

Also: RPA

Sandbox

A walled-off space on a computer where an AI or program can run without touching anything outside it.

Also: Sandboxes, sandboxed

Side channel

Sneaking out information through an unexpected route, like timing how fast a computer responds, instead of the normal way.

Also: Side channels, covert channel, side-channel attack

Simulation

Testing a robot or system in a virtual world on a computer before trying it in real life.

Also: Simulations, simulator, sim

Skill

A saved, reusable set of instructions (and sometimes code) that an AI agent loads when a task needs it.

Also: Skills, agent skill

Spear phishing

A scam email written for one specific person, using facts about them, to trick them into clicking or sharing secrets.

Also: Phishing, spear-phishing

Sub-agent

A helper AI that a main AI agent hands a smaller task to, so the main one stays focused.

Also: Sub-agents, subagent, subagents

Token

A small chunk of text, roughly part of a word, that AI models read and write; AI usage and pricing are counted in tokens.

Also: Tokens

Valuation

How much investors think a whole company is worth.

Vibe coding

Building software by describing what you want to an AI in plain words and letting it write the code.

Also: Vibe-coding, vibe coded

Virtual machine

A pretend computer running inside a real one, so software inside it is kept separate from the real machine.

Also: VM, VMs, microVM

Vulnerability

A weakness in software that an attacker could use to break in or cause harm.

Also: Vulnerabilities, security hole, security bug

World model

An AI that builds an interactive, changing scene, so robots or agents can practise inside it.

Also: World models