AI jargon, explained in plain English
AI comes with a lot of jargon, and most of it describes something quite simple. Here are the terms our clients ask about most, each explained in plain English with an example from a small business using Microsoft 365.
The terms you’ll hear when people talk about AI
AI agent
An AI agent is software that works towards a goal by choosing its own next steps and using tools, like searching files or updating records, not just chatting.
Read more →AI hallucination
An AI hallucination is when an AI tool gives an answer that sounds confident and plausible but is wrong or made up, like a false reference or invented figure.
Read more →Data processing agreement (DPA)
A data processing agreement (DPA) is the contract UK GDPR requires when a supplier handles personal data for you, setting out how they may use and protect it.
Read more →Human in the loop
Human in the loop means an automation hands certain decisions or unclear items to a person to check or approve, instead of acting on everything by itself.
Read more →Large language model (LLM)
A large language model (LLM) is the AI behind tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot: a system trained on vast amounts of text to read and write language.
Read more →Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft 365 Copilot is Microsoft’s paid AI assistant in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, able to work across the emails, meetings and files you can access.
Read more →Power Automate
Power Automate is Microsoft’s tool for automated workflows between apps, such as saving email attachments to SharePoint or sending approval requests in Teams.
Read more →Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is AI that answers from your own documents: it finds the relevant passages first, then writes an answer based on them.
Read more →Shadow AI
Shadow AI is staff using AI tools the business hasn’t approved, such as pasting client emails into a free chatbot, often with no idea where that data goes.
Read more →Workflow automation
Workflow automation is software doing the repeatable steps of a business process, like filing, routing and data entry, so people handle only the exceptions.
Read more →Skip the jargon, see the savings
Book a free automation audit and we’ll tell you, in plain English, where AI could save your team time and where it isn’t worth it.
Book a Free Audit →