AI Glossary

AI Glossary – Simple Definitions for Beginners and Kids

I wrote this glossary because I got tired of reading definitions that use even bigger words than the word they are trying to explain.

So here it is. Simple. Straight to the point. No fancy jargon. If you are a kid or just someone who is new to AI and robotics, this page is for you.

I update this whenever I learn something new or when readers ask me to add a term.

---

Algorithm

A set of step-by-step instructions. Like a recipe. An algorithm tells a computer exactly what to do and in what order.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

When a machine learns things and makes decisions like a human would. It is not magic. It is just math and code working together.

Backlink

When another website links to your website. Search engines see this as a vote of trust. More good backlinks usually mean higher ranking.

Bot

A software program that runs automatically. Some bots are helpful, like the ones that answer customer service questions. Some are not so nice.

ChatGPT

An AI chatbot made by OpenAI. You can ask it questions, tell it to write stories, or ask for help with homework. It is like talking to a very smart robot that sometimes makes mistakes.

Computer Vision

When a computer looks at pictures or videos and understands what it is seeing. Facial recognition on your phone uses computer vision.

Cookie

A small text file that a website saves on your computer. It remembers things like your login or what you put in your shopping cart. Not the delicious kind you eat.

Crawler

A bot that search engines send out to read web pages. Google and Bing use crawlers to find new content and decide where to rank it.

Data

Just information. Numbers, words, pictures, sounds. AI needs data to learn, the way a student needs textbooks to study.

E-E-A-T

Stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google looks for these signals to decide if a website is reliable. Having a real person named Sam with real engineering experience helps a lot here.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions. A page on a website where common questions get short, direct answers. Search engines love these because they match exactly how people search.

GEO

Generative Engine Optimization. A new way of writing content so that AI search tools like Bing Copilot can read it easily and cite it in their answers. Short answer blocks work best.

Indexing

When a search engine adds your web page to its database. If your page is not indexed, nobody can find it on Google or Bing. Submitting a sitemap helps speed this up.

IndexNow

A protocol that lets you ping Bing the moment you publish a new post. Instead of waiting days or weeks for Bing to find you, IndexNow tells Bing immediately.

Large Language Model (LLM)

A type of AI trained on massive amounts of text. It learns patterns in language and can generate human-like writing. ChatGPT is an example of an LLM.

Machine Learning (ML)

A type of AI where computers learn from examples instead of following fixed rules. Show a machine learning model a thousand pictures of cats, and eventually it learns to recognize a cat on its own.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

When computers understand human language. Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa use NLP to figure out what you are saying.

Neural Network

A computer system loosely inspired by the human brain. It has layers of tiny calculations that work together to recognize patterns. Most modern AI uses neural networks under the hood.

Prompt

The text you type into an AI tool like ChatGPT. A good prompt gives clear instructions. A bad prompt confuses the AI. Learning to write good prompts is like learning to talk to a very literal robot.

Ranking

Where your website shows up in search results. Position one is the best. Page two is basically invisible. Good content, backlinks, and technical setup help improve ranking.

Robot

A machine that can sense its environment, process information, and take action. Not all robots are human-shaped. Your Roomba is a robot. So is a self-driving car.

Robotics

The field of designing, building, and programming robots. It mixes mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.

Schema Markup

Code you add to your website that helps search engines understand your content. It is like putting labels on boxes so Google and Bing know exactly what each piece of information is.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The practice of making your website easier for search engines to understand and rank. Good SEO means more people find your site when they search for things you write about.

Sitemap

A file on your website that lists all your pages and posts. Search engines read your sitemap to find your content faster. Every blog should have one.

Training Data

The information used to teach an AI model. If you want an AI to recognize dogs, you show it thousands of dog pictures. Those pictures are the training data.

Web Crawler

Same as crawler. A bot that search engines send out to read the internet. Google has Googlebot. Bing has Bingbot.

---

– Sam
AI Engineer | Robotics Engineer
Westfield, New York, USA

Last updated: April 2026