As artificial intelligence (AI) creeps into ever more aspects of the things we design, user experience professionals should be able to confidently follow and discuss the big tech advances of our times. These are not just dry terms for developers; they are at the core of important debates about the future of humanity.
Although most of you probably know by now what AI is, if pressed to define it, what would you say? That’s harder. And you’ve heard the term “algorithm,” but what is it really? And could you explain what the difference is between narrow and general AI? Or how machine learning, neural networks and deep learning are related? And what on Earth is this thing called “the Singularity”?An inquisitive friend of mine asked me these questions and, embarrassingly, I was pretty stumped for good, concise answers. So I did my homework and created an AI “cheat sheet” that I’m sharing with you today. These are the super short definitions I came up with for the most important terms. After each, I suggest further reading.Before we get to the fancier AI-related terms, let’s start off by defining plain old “intelligence” and then the more recent, human invention, “artificial intelligence.”
