Plain-English definitions for every term you'll hit while shopping for an AI agent, without the vendor spin.
41 pages
Agentic AI is software that can plan steps and take actions on its own to finish a goal. See a plain example and how it powers website chat and voice agents.
Read →An AI agent is software that takes a goal, decides what steps to take, and acts on its own. See plain examples, including chat and voice agents on websites.
Read →An AI assistant is software that uses AI to understand questions in plain language and respond with answers or actions. Here's what that means for your site.
Read →AI guardrails are the rules and limits that keep an AI chatbot or voice agent on-topic, safe, and accurate. Learn what they are and why they matter.
Read →AI hallucination is when an AI tool confidently states something false. Learn what it means, why it happens, and how to reduce it on your website.
Read →AI orchestration is the coordination of multiple AI models, tools, and data sources so they work together as one system. Here's a plain-English breakdown.
Read →An AI voice agent is software that talks with people out loud, understands what they say, and answers in real time. Here's what it means and how it works.
Read →Chain-of-thought prompting tells an AI model to work through a problem step by step before answering. Here's what it means and why it matters for chatbots.
Read →A chatbot is software that chats with people in plain language to answer questions or handle tasks. Learn how chatbots work and where they fit on a website.
Read →Chunking is the process of splitting documents into smaller text pieces so an AI can search them and answer questions. Here's a plain-English guide.
Read →A context window is the amount of text an AI model can read and remember at once. Learn how it works and why it matters for your website's chatbot.
Read →Conversational AI is technology that lets software understand and reply to human language in chat or voice. Here's a plain-English definition with examples.
Read →Embeddings turn words and sentences into number lists a computer can compare. Learn what they are, with a plain example and how AI chatbots use them.
Read →Few-shot learning is when an AI model handles a new task after seeing just a few examples. Here's what it means and why it matters for chatbots.
Read →Fine-tuning means training an existing AI model on your own examples so it answers in your style and handles your specific topics more accurately.
Read →Function calling lets an AI model trigger your real tools and data, like checking stock or booking a slot, so a chatbot can do tasks, not just talk.
Read →Generative AI is software that creates new text, images, audio, or code from patterns it learned in data. Here's a plain-English definition for business owners.
Read →Grounding in AI means tying a model's answers to real, verified sources like your own docs so it gives accurate replies instead of made-up ones.
Read →Intent recognition is how an AI chatbot or voice agent figures out what a person actually wants from their words. See a plain example and why it matters.
Read →A knowledge base is the organized set of facts, docs, and FAQs your business stores so people and AI tools can find answers fast. Here's a plain guide.
Read →An LLM (Large Language Model) is an AI trained on huge amounts of text to predict and generate language. Plain-English definition with examples for site owners.
Read →llms.txt is a plain-text file you put at your website's root to tell AI models which pages and facts matter. Here's what it is and how to use it.
Read →Machine learning is software that learns patterns from data instead of following fixed rules. Here's a plain-English definition with a real example.
Read →Multimodal AI is AI that can work with more than one kind of input at once, like text, images, audio, and video. Plain-English definition with examples.
Read →A neural network is a computer system loosely modeled on the brain that learns patterns from examples. Plain-English definition with examples for site owners.
Read →NLP (Natural Language Processing) is how computers read, understand, and respond to human language. Here's a plain-English definition with real examples.
Read →NLU, or natural language understanding, is how software works out what a person means in plain words. See a clear definition, example, and where it gets used.
Read →Prompt engineering is the practice of writing clear instructions that get an AI model to respond the way you want. See plain examples and how it shapes chatbots.
Read →RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) means an AI model looks up your real content before answering, so replies stay accurate and grounded in your facts.
Read →A RAG chatbot looks up your own content before it answers, so replies stay accurate. Here's what RAG means and how it works in plain English.
Read →Reranking is the AI step that reorders search results so the most relevant ones move to the top. Learn how it sharpens chatbot and voice agent answers.
Read →Semantic search finds results by meaning, not just matching keywords. Learn how it works, why it beats keyword search, and how AI chatbots use it.
Read →Sentiment analysis is software that reads text and decides if the feeling behind it is positive, negative, or neutral. Here's how it works for small sites.
Read →Speech-to-Text (STT) turns spoken words into written text. Learn how STT works, where it shows up, and how it powers voice agents on small-business sites.
Read →A system prompt is the hidden instruction that tells an AI chatbot or voice agent who it is, what it knows, and how to act. Here's a plain-English guide.
Read →Text-to-Speech (TTS) is technology that converts written text into spoken audio. Plain-English definition with examples for small-business website owners.
Read →Tokens are the small chunks of text AI models read and write. Learn what they are, why they affect cost and speed, and how they relate to chatbots.
Read →A transformer model is the AI design behind tools like ChatGPT. Learn what it is, how it reads text in context, and why it powers chatbots in plain English.
Read →A vector database stores text as numbers so AI can find answers by meaning, not exact keywords. Here's what it is and why chatbots use it.
Read →A virtual agent is software that handles customer questions and tasks in chat or voice, like a digital staff member. Plain-English definition with examples.
Read →Zero-shot learning is when an AI model handles a brand-new task from a plain instruction, with zero examples. Plain-English definition for small-business owners.
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