The words to know before you touch AI.
Plain English, no jargon, no quiz you can fail. Read the six starter words first, then come back for the rest whenever you want. Free, and no email needed.
Why does everybody call everything "AI"?
Because "AI" is a category, like "sports." If someone says "I watched sports last night," you still don't know if they mean the Warriors or golf. So when you hear "AI," ask one question: which one?
Say the specific word
- Chatbotwhen you're talking to Claude or ChatGPT
- Agentwhen it's doing a task for you
- Promptingwhen you mean the skill of asking well
- Image or video toolwhen it made a picture or a clip
- Roboticswhen it has a body and moves
The rule of thumb
"AI" is fine as the big umbrella word. The moment you're actually doing something, use the specific word. It makes your questions clearer, and you'll spot the hype faster.
Start with these six
If you only learn six words this week, make it these. Tap one to jump to it.
All the words
No match. Try a different word, or clear the search.
Make AI explain a word to you
Copy this, paste it into Claude or ChatGPT, and hit enter. Or skip the typing and just say it out loud. You can talk to them.
Why it works
A prompt is a macro. One push, and a bunch of instructions run at once: who it's for, how long, no jargon, plus an example. You're not learning a new language, you're just stacking instructions.
Now you drive
What would you change? Swap "context window" for any word on this page. Or change "two sentences" to "one." You're in control of what comes back.
Make your mixtape
Hit Add to my mixtape on any word you want to keep. Like lining up tracks before you hit record, your picks stay right here on this device, in the order you added them. Come back and play them back anytime.
Your mixtape is empty. Add a few words from the list above.
Quick check: got it?
Five questions. No score is saved, nobody's watching. It's just for you.