AI glossary / The basics

Machine learning

The basics, also called ML, one of the 17 words to learn first

Teaching computers by showing them lots of examples rather than writing out every rule by hand.

Think of it as: A child learns what a dog is by seeing many dogs, not by reading a definition.

More words in The basics

• ModelThe trained brain of an AI system. It's the result of all the learning and the thing that produces answers.
• MultimodalAn AI that handles more than one kind of input or output, such as text, images, audio and video, not just words.
• Narrow AIAI built for one job, such as filtering spam or recommending films. Every AI in use today is narrow to some degree.
• Natural language processingThe field of getting computers to understand and produce human language.
• Recommendation systemAI that suggests what you might like next, such as films on Netflix or products on Amazon. Probably the AI you use most without noticing.