What is AI?
AI (Artificial Intelligence) "is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable [emphasis added]." (McCarthy, n.d.)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is sometimes also referred to as machine learning (ML), but the two concepts are not identical. Similarly, Large Language Models (LLMs) are often referred to as AI and fit under the umbrella of AI along with ML but LLMs and ML do not demonstrate actual intelligence.
Intelligence of created systems and algorithms is typically compared to human intelligence. Sometimes LLMs and ML products can appear to have human intelligence, but that appearance is the product of coding, not actual intelligence.
ML (Machine Learning) is "algorithms that give computers the ability to learn from data, and then make predictions and decisions". Examples include automatically detecting spam emails, suggesting videos to watch after finishing one, etc. (CrashCourse, 2017)
LLMs (Large Language Models) "can generate natural language texts from large amounts of data. Large language models use deep neural networks, such as transformers, to learn from billions or trillions of words, and to produce texts on any topic or domain. Large language models can also perform various natural language tasks, such as classification, summarization, translation, generation, and dialogue." (Maeda & Chaki, 2023)
GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) "models give applications the ability to create human-like text and content (images, music, and more), and answer questions in a conversational manner." (What Is GPT AI?, n.d.)
University of Washington Libraries AI Libguide, CC BY-NC
