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Basics of Generative AI

Guide uses elements created by the US Military Academy, used with USMA permission.

This guide is in no way meant to be comprehensive. The resources provided and linked to are highly curated and meant to cover basic and practical applications of Generative AI and how it can be used to benefit cadets and faculty. It will be frequently updated and your feedback is welcome. 

Artificial Intelligence has been part of our lives for years.  Many of the apps and tools we use on a daily basis use artificial intelligence to help us be more productive, get where we are going, find new shows to watch, and sort our photos. 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI or GenAI) is a new tool that can create text, images, music, computer code, video, and more.

What is Generative AI - Quick Explanations

Mini-lecture 1 in a series of short lectures by Willem Zuidema, of the University of Amsterdam, on how generative AI and LLMs work, and how they can be responsibly used. "What is Generative AI?" by ILLC Science is licensed under CC BY 4.0. 

See AI Additional Resources & Trainings tab for videos 2-4 of the ILLC Science mini-series on Generative AI. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Definitions

While the terms Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, and ChatGPT are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. 

ChatGPT 3.5 provided the following definitions when prompted:

  • Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of computer science focused on creating systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence (OpenAI, 2024) .
     
  • Generative AI refers to a subset of artificial intelligence that involves creating models capable of generating new data, images, text, or other content based on patterns learned from existing data (OpenAI, 2024).
     
  • ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence model developed by OpenAI, designed to engage in natural language conversation and assist users with various queries and tasks (OpenAI, 2024).

Reference:

Definitions of Generative AI Terms

Hover over the (+) to read the definitions.

Generative AI Term Glossaries