AI glossary

Burstiness, or irregularity, is a measure of the variation in sentence construction and length. AI texts typically exhibit a low degree of burstiness, while human texts usually have a higher degree. An AI detector often combines burstiness and perplexity to determine if a text is AI-generated. A higher temperature setting in an LLM results in text with higher perplexity and burstiness.

A chatbot is a software application that simulates human conversation, usually in the form of written chat. They are based on deep learning and NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology and can be used for tasks such as customer support and content writing. LLM-based chatbots have increased in popularity since the release of ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Bard in recent months. Less advanced chatbots have existed for longer, with one of the first chatbots, ELIZA, released in the 1960s.

ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022. The tool is based on LLM technology and refined with RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback). ChatGPT has been a huge success and is reportedly the fastest-growing application of all time. The tool is seen as a major advancement in AI technology and has brought the topic of AI-writing to public attention. OpenAI has also received criticism from AI safety researchers, who argue that the tool is not well aligned and carries the risk of spreading misinformation. Some also claim that the company has not acted in line with its values, as OpenAI has not made the technical details of the models public.

The Chinese Room is a philosophical thought experiment by John Searle. It asks the reader to imagine an AI system that behaves as if it understands Chinese. It passes the Turing test, convincing a Chinese speaker that they are conversing with a human. Searle then questions whether the AI truly understands Chinese or merely simulates the ability to understand it. He proposes a second scenario where he (Searle), not speaking Chinese, is in a closed room, receives input from a Chinese speaker outside the room, and produces coherent responses by following the AI's instructions. The Chinese speaker again thinks they are talking to a human. Searle argues that it would be unreasonable to say he “understands” Chinese just because he can facilitate conversation by following a program. He suggests that since the AI does precisely that (follows a program to produce answers), it also does not “understand” what it “says”. This argument prompts the reader to think about whether and how artificial intelligence differs from human intelligence and where “intelligence” and “understanding” originate.