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Key Terms

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Image by Marília Castelli

Here's a list of some key terms in the field of AI.

Artificial Intelligence

ALGORITHM

A set of rules that a machine can follow to learn how to do a task

AUTONOMOUS

A machine is described as autonomous if it can perform its task or tasks without needing human intervention

BIAS

Assumptions made by a model that simplify the process of learning to do its assigned task. Most supervised machine learning models perform better with low bias, as these assumptions can negatively affect results

BOUNDING BOX

Commonly used in image or video tagging, this is an imaginary box drawn on visual information. The contents of the box are labeled to help a model recognize it as a distinct type of object
 

COMPUTATIONAL LEARNING THEORY

A field within artificial intelligence that is primarily concerned with creating and analyzing machine learning algorithms

DATA MINING

The process of analyzing datasets in order to discover new patterns that might improve the model

DATA SET

A collection of related data points, usually with a uniform order and tags

ENTITY EXTRACTION

An umbrella term referring to the process of adding structure to data so that a machine can read it. Entity extraction may be done by humans or by a machine learning model

GENERAL AI

AI that could successfully do any intellectual task that can be done by any human being. This is sometimes referred to as strong AI, although they aren’t entirely equivalent terms

LAEBL

A part of training data that identifies the desired output for that particular piece of data

MACHINE LEARNING

This subset of AI is particularly focused on developing algorithms that will help machines to learn and change in response to new data, without the help of a human being

MODEL

A broad term referring to the product of AI training, created by running a machine learning algorithm on training data

NATURAL LANGUAGE GENERATION (NLG)

This refers to the process by which a machine turns structured data into text or speech that humans can understand. Essentially, NLG is concerned with what a machine writes or says as the end part of the communication process

NATURAL LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDING (NLU)

As a subset of natural language processing, natural language understanding deals with helping machines to recognize the intended meaning of language — taking into account its subtle nuances and any grammatical errors

PATTERN RECOGNITION

The distinction between pattern recognition and machine learning is often blurry, but this field is basically concerned with finding trends and patterns in data

PYTHON

A popular programming language used for general programming

STRONG AI

This field of research is focused on developing AI that is equal to the human mind when it comes to ability. General AI is a similar term often used interchangeably

TEST DATA

The unlabeled data used to check that a machine learning model is able to perform its assigned task

TRANSFER LEARNING

This method of learning involves spending time teaching a machine to do a related task, then allowing it to return to its original work with improved accuracy. One potential example of this is taking a model that analyzes sentiment in product reviews and asking it to analyze tweets for a week

UNSUPERVISED LEARNING

This is a form of training where the algorithm is asked to make inferences from datasets that don’t contain labels. These inferences are what help it to learn

VARIANCE

The amount that the intended function of a machine learning model changes while it’s being trained. Despite being flexible, models with high variance are prone to overfitting and low predictive accuracy because they are reliant on their training data

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 This refers to the general concept of machines acting in a way that simulates or mimics human intelligence. AI can have a variety of features, such as human-like communication or decision making 

BACKWARD CHAINING

A method where the model starts with the desired output and works in reverse to find data that might support it

BIG DATA

Datasets that are too large or complex to be used by traditional data processing applications

CHATBOT

chatbot is program that is designed to communicate with people through text or voice commands in a way that mimics human-to-human conversation

CORPUS

A large dataset of written or spoken material that can be used to train a machine to perform linguistic tasks

DATA SCIENCE

Drawing from statistics, computer science and information science, this interdisciplinary field aims to use a variety of scientific methods, processes and systems to solve problems involving data

DEEP LEARNING

A function of artificial intelligence that imitates the human brain by learning from the way data is structured, rather than from an algorithm that’s programmed to do one specific thing

FORWARD CHAINING

A method in which a machine must work from a problem to find a potential solution. By analyzing a range of hypotheses, the AI must determine those that are relevant to the problem

INTENT

Commonly used in training data for chatbots and other natural language processing tasks, this is a type of label that defines the purpose or goal of what is said. For example, the intent for the phrase “turn the volume down” could be “decrease volume”

MACHINE INTELLIGENCE

An umbrella term for various types of learning algorithms, including machine learning and deep learning

MACHINE TRANSLATION

The translation of text by an algorithm, independent of any human involvement

NEURAL NETWORK

Also called a neural net, a neural network is a computer system designed to function like the human brain. Although researchers are still working on creating a machine model of the human brain, existing neural networks can perform many tasks involving speech, vision and board game strategy

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP)

The umbrella term for any machine’s ability to perform conversational tasks, such as recognizing what is said to it, understanding the intended meaning and responding intelligibly

OVERFITTING

An important AI term, overfitting is a symptom of machine learning training in which an algorithm is only able to work on or identify specific examples present in the training data. A working model should be able to use the general trends behind the data to work on new examples

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS

By combining data mining and machine learning, this type of analytics is built to forecast what will happen within a given timeframe based on historical data and trends

REINFORCEMENT LEARNING

A method of teaching AI that sets a goal without specific metrics, encouraging the model to test different scenarios rather than find a single answer. Based on human feedback, the model can then manipulate the next scenario to get better results

SUPERVISED LEARNING

This is a type of machine learning where structured datasets, with inputs and labels, are used to train and develop an algorithm

TRAINING DATA

This refers to all of the data used during the process of training a machine learning algorithm, as well as the specific dataset used for training rather than testing

TURING TEST

Named after Alan Turing, famed mathematician, computer scientist and logician, this tests a machine’s ability to pass for a human, particularly in the fields of language and behavior. After being graded by a human, the machine passes if its output is indistinguishable from that of human participant's

VALIDATION DATA

Structured like training data with an input and labels, this data is used to test a recently trained model against new data and to analyze performance, with a particular focus on checking for overfitting

WEAK AI

Also called narrow AI, this is a model that has a set range of skills and focuses on one particular set of tasks. Most AI currently in use is weak AI, unable to learn or perform tasks outside of its specialist skill

Source: TELUS International 

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