Course overview
AI Basics for Everyday UsersBuzzword Decoder
Part 3 · The jargon, decoded

Every AI buzzword, in plain English.

AI talk is full of acronyms and hype. This is a quick, searchable decoder for the words you'll actually hear — plus hands-on examples to make the trickier ones stick. Search, filter, tap to learn, then test yourself.

Search & filter Plain-English Worked examples Quick quiz
The decoder

The AI buzzword glossary

Search for a term, or filter by theme. Tap any card to reveal a plain-English explanation. No jargon needed to understand the jargon.

No terms match that search. Try a different word, or clear the filter.
Worked example · A top confusion

How do you give a model new knowledge?

“Prompting”, “RAG” and “fine-tuning” get mixed up constantly. They're three different ways to make a model more useful. Pick one to see what it really means.

Prompting

Tell the model what you need, directly in your message.

Like giving clear instructions to a sharp colleague, right now.

Setup effortLow
How built-in it isLow

Best for: quick tasks, tone, formatting and one-off questions.

A simple rule of thumb: prompt to change what you ask for, RAG to give it the right facts, and fine-tune to change how it behaves by default.
Worked example · Safety

Guardrails in action

Words like “guardrails”, “alignment” and “prompt injection” sound abstract — until you watch them work. Pick a request and see whether a well-built assistant should help or refuse, and why.

✓ Allowed

Pick a request on the left.

You'll see whether it should be allowed or blocked, and which safety idea is at play.

Guardrails aren't about making AI less useful — they're about keeping it helpful, honest and safe, especially with sensitive data and risky actions.
Check yourself

Test yourself

Five quick scenarios. Pick the buzzword that fits — you'll get the answer and a one-line why straight away.

Correct: 0 / 5

The trick with AI jargon: focus on what it does, not what it's called

You don't need all fifty terms. You need the few that matter for your work — and a habit of cutting through the hype.

Learn the few that touch your workMost terms are background; a handful are genuinely useful to you.
Ask “what problem does it solve?”If a word doesn't map to a real benefit, it's probably hype.
Revisit as it changesThe vocabulary moves fast — a quick refresh beats memorising.