Demystifying AI & LLM Buzzwords: Speak AI Like a Pro ~ RRJ

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) are everywhere now; starting from smart assistants to AI copilots, chatbots, and content generators. If you’re in tech, product, marketing, or just exploring this space, understanding the jargon is essential to join meaningful conversations.

Here’s a breakdown of must-know AI and LLM terms, with simple explanations so you can talk confidently in any meeting or tweet storm.

Core AI Concepts

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines. It includes learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and perception.

2. Machine Learning (ML)

A subset of AI that allows systems to learn from data and improve over time without explicit programming.

3. Deep Learning

A type of ML using neural networks with multiple layers—great for recognizing patterns in images, text, and voice.

LLM & NLP Essentials

4. Large Language Model (LLM)

An AI model trained on massive text datasets to understand, generate, and manipulate human language. Examples: GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, LLaMA.

5. Transformer Architecture

The foundation of modern LLMs—introduced by Google’s paper “Attention Is All You Need”. It enables parallel processing and context understanding in text.

6. Token

A piece of text (word, sub-word, or character) processed by an LLM. LLMs think in tokens, not words.

7. Prompt

The input given to an LLM to generate a response. Prompt engineering is the art of crafting effective prompts.

8. Zero-shot / Few-shot Learning

Zero-shot: The model responds without any example.
Few-shot: The model is shown a few examples to learn the pattern.

Training & Fine-Tuning Jargon

9. Pretraining

LLMs are first trained on general datasets (like Wikipedia, books, web pages) to learn language patterns.

10. Fine-tuning

Adjusting a pretrained model on specific domain data for better performance (e.g., medical, legal).

11. Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF)

Used to align AI output with human preferences by training it using reward signals from human evaluations.

Deployment & Use Cases

12. Inference

Running the model to get a prediction or output (e.g., generating text from a prompt).

13. Latency

Time taken by an LLM to respond to a prompt. Critical for real-time applications.

14. Context Window

The maximum number of tokens a model can handle at once. GPT-4 can go up to 128k tokens in some versions.

AI Ops & Optimization

15. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

Combines search and generation. Useful for making LLMs fetch up-to-date or domain-specific info before answering.

16. Embeddings

Numerical vector representations of text that capture semantic meaning—used for search, clustering, and similarity comparison.

17. Vector Database

A special database (like Pinecone, Weaviate) for storing embeddings and retrieving similar documents.

Governance & Safety

18. Hallucination

When an LLM confidently gives wrong or made-up information. A major challenge in production use.

19. Bias

LLMs can reflect societal or training data biases—gender, race, politics—leading to ethical concerns.

20. AI Alignment

The effort to make AI systems behave in ways aligned with human values, safety, and intent.

Bonus Buzzwords

CoT (Chain of Thought Reasoning): For better logic in complex tasks.
Agents: LLMs acting autonomously to complete tasks using tools, memory, and planning.
Multi-modal AI: Models that understand multiple data types—text, image, audio (e.g., GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5).
Open vs. Closed Models: Open-source (LLaMA, Mistral) vs proprietary (GPT, Claude).
Prompt Injection: A vulnerability where malicious input manipulates an LLM’s output.

Here is the full list of AI & LLM Buzzwords with Descriptions in table format:

Buzzword	Description
AI (Artificial Intelligence)	Simulation of human intelligence in machines that perform tasks like learning and reasoning.
ML (Machine Learning)	A subset of AI where models learn from data to improve performance without being explicitly programmed.
DL (Deep Learning)	A type of machine learning using multi-layered neural networks for tasks like image or speech recognition.
AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)	AI with the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge in a generalized way like a human.
Narrow AI	AI designed for a specific task, like facial recognition or language translation.
Supervised Learning	Machine learning with labeled data used to train a model.
Unsupervised Learning	Machine learning using input data without labeled responses.
Reinforcement Learning	Training an agent to make decisions by rewarding desirable actions.
Federated Learning	A decentralized training approach where models learn across multiple devices without data sharing.
LLM (Large Language Model)	AI models trained on large text corpora to generate and understand human-like text.
NLP (Natural Language Processing)	Technology for machines to understand, interpret, and generate human language.
Transformers	A neural network architecture that handles sequential data with attention mechanisms.
BERT	A transformer-based model designed for understanding the context of words in a sentence.
GPT	A generative language model that creates human-like text based on input prompts.
Tokenization	Breaking down text into smaller units (tokens) for processing by LLMs.
Attention Mechanism	Allows models to focus on specific parts of the input sequence when making predictions.
Self-Attention	A mechanism where each word in a sentence relates to every other word to understand context.
Pretraining	Initial training of a model on a large corpus before fine-tuning for specific tasks.
Fine-tuning	Adapting a pretrained model to a specific task using domain-specific data.
Zero-shot Learning	The model performs tasks without seeing any examples during training.
Few-shot Learning	The model learns a task using only a few labeled examples.
Prompt Engineering	Designing input prompts to guide LLM output effectively.
Prompt Tuning	Optimizing prompts using automated techniques to improve model responses.
Instruction Tuning	Training LLMs to follow user instructions more accurately.
Context Window	The maximum number of tokens a model can process in one input.
Hallucination	When an LLM generates incorrect or made-up information.
Chain of Thought (CoT)	Technique that enables models to reason through intermediate steps.
Function Calling	Enabling models to call APIs or tools during response generation.
AI Agents	Autonomous systems powered by LLMs that can perform tasks and use tools.
AutoGPT	An experimental system that chains together LLM calls to complete goals autonomously.
LangChain	Framework for building LLM-powered apps with memory, tools, and agent logic.
Semantic Search	Search method using the meaning behind words instead of exact keywords.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)	Combines information retrieval with LLMs to generate context-aware responses.
Embeddings	Numerical vectors representing the semantic meaning of text.
Vector Database	A database optimized for storing and querying embeddings.
Chatbot	An AI program that simulates conversation with users.
Copilot	AI assistant integrated in software tools to help users with tasks.
Multi-modal Models	AI models that process text, image, and audio inputs together.
AI Plugin	Extensions that allow LLMs to interact with external tools or services.
Text-to-Image	Generating images from text descriptions.
Text-to-Speech	Converting text into spoken audio using AI.
Speech-to-Text	Transcribing spoken audio into text.
Inference	The process of running a trained model to make predictions or generate outputs.
Latency	Time taken by an AI model to produce a response.
Throughput	Amount of data a model can process in a given time.
Model Quantization	Reducing model size by converting weights to lower precision.
Distillation	Creating smaller models that mimic larger ones while maintaining performance.
Model Pruning	Removing unnecessary weights or neurons to reduce model complexity.
Checkpointing	Saving intermediate model states to resume or analyze training.
A/B Testing	Experimenting with two model versions to compare performance.
FTaaS (Fine-tuning as a Service)	Hosted services for custom model training.
Bias	Unintended prejudice or skew in AI outputs due to biased training data.
Toxicity	Offensive, harmful, or inappropriate content generated by AI.
Red-teaming	Testing AI systems for vulnerabilities and risky behavior.
AI Alignment	Ensuring AI systems behave in accordance with human values.
Content Moderation	Filtering or flagging harmful or inappropriate AI outputs.
Guardrails	Rules and constraints placed on AI outputs for safety.
Prompt Injection	A method to manipulate AI by embedding hidden instructions in user input.
Model Explainability	Making AI model decisions understandable to humans.
Interpretability	Understanding how and why a model makes specific predictions.
Safety Layer	Additional control mechanisms to reduce risks in AI output.
Fairness	Ensuring AI does not discriminate or favor unfairly across different user groups.
Differential Privacy	Techniques to ensure individual data can't be reverse-engineered from AI outputs.