NOT MAGIC, JUST MATH
Some people think AI is science fiction or a wizard. The reality is that it actually runs on these three things.
What are math, statistics, and data?
This level of AI is a "one-trick pony." It only does ONE specific job, like recognizing faces or playing chess, and not anything else.
What is Narrow AI? (accept ANI)
The general job title for someone who writes instructions for AI tools to get the best output.
What is a prompt engineer?
When Spotify makes you a personalized "Daily Mix" playlist, AI is doing this for you.
What is (music) recommendation? (accept "personalization" or "curation")
The Tesla driving feature where the car can steer, brake, and accelerate by itself on highways.
What is Autopilot? (accept "Full Self-Driving" or "self-driving mode")
Traditional software follows step-by-step rules a human writes. AI is different because it learns from THIS instead.
What is data / examples?
This theoretical level of AI would think and learn like a human across any topic. We don't have it yet.
What is General AI? (accept AGI)
The job title for someone whose whole career is analyzing data with AI to find patterns.
What is a data scientist? (accept "data analyst")
The kind of computer characters in video games that move and make decisions on their own, often powered by AI.
What are NPCs (non-player characters)? (accept "AI-controlled characters" or "bots")
The Google company whose self-driving robotaxis already operate in places like Phoenix and San Francisco
What is Waymo?
An AI cannot run on math alone. It also needs lots of examples to learn from, plus this kind of hardware (often a GPU) to crunch the numbers fast.
What is computing power? (accept "GPUs" or "hardware")
This hypothetical level would be smarter than humans at literally everything. We're nowhere close, but sci-fi loves it.
What is Super AI? (accept ASI)
The cybersecurity job title for someone who uses AI to detect and stop hackers.
What is a security analyst / SOC analyst? (accept "cybersecurity engineer")
The technology behind AI-generated profile pictures, anime art, and AI Instagram filters.
What is generative AI / AI image generation? (accept "diffusion models" or specific tools like DALL-E or Midjourney)
When you unlock your phone with your face, this kind of AI is recognizing you.
What is facial recognition? (accept "biometric AI")
Whether it's recognizing a stop sign, your face, or a song you'd like, AI is doing the same fundamental thing: spotting these in data.
What are patterns?
When you say "ChatGPT understands me" or "Alexa is being mean today," you're guilty of THIS dangerous mental habit.
What is anthropomorphism? (accept "anthropomorphizing AI")
The career field where AI helps lawyers research cases and review contracts faster.
What is law / legal? (accept "legal tech")
When sports teams use AI to predict player injuries or analyze opponents, this entire field is called this.
What is sports analytics? (accept "sports data analysis" or "performance analytics")
The fingerprint-and-face technology used at airports and on phones, which is a broader category than just facial recognition.
What is biometrics? (accept "biometric authentication")
When ChatGPT writes a sentence, it isn't really thinking. It's just guessing the next likely word. That makes AI more like a really fancy version of THIS prediction feature on your phone keyboard.
What is autocomplete? (accept "predictive text" or "autosuggest")
Your phone's Face ID, Spotify's Discover Weekly, and self-driving Teslas all share this trait: they only do their one job. They are all examples of THIS kind of AI.
What is Narrow AI? (accept ANI)
The starting salary range for many entry-level AI-related tech jobs in NYC, in the format "$X to $Y."
What is $60,000 to $100,000 (approximately)? (accept any reasonable range $50K-$120K)
The Korean pop industry has used AI to create entirely virtual ___, with no real human members.
What are virtual idols / virtual K-pop groups / AI bands? (accept any answer about virtual/AI artists)
This Massachusetts company makes the famous yellow four-legged robot dog "Spot" and the humanoid robot "Atlas."
What is Boston Dynamics?