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AI Glossary: Artificial Intelligence & Automation Terms Explained

Understand the AI, automation, chatbot, voice agent, integration, and marketing terms businesses need to know — explained in simple language with practical examples.

49 AI & Automation TermsBusiness ExamplesUpdated Regularly

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AI Glossary: Artificial Intelligence & Automation Terms Explained

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ActionAutomationA single step an automation performs — sending an email, updating a record, creating a task, or calling another system.

Agentic AIAI AgentsThe general approach of building AI that plans and acts across several steps, instead of responding once and stopping.

AI AgentAI AgentsAn AI system that can carry out a multi-step task using your tools, rather than only answering a question.

AI ChatbotChatbotsA chat assistant that answers customer questions in natural language, using your own business information as its source.

AI ModelAI FundamentalsThe trained engine that actually produces an AI system's output — the piece you choose, configure, and can swap later.

AI Voice AgentVoice AIAn AI system that answers or makes phone calls, holds a spoken conversation, and completes the task the caller rang about.

APIIntegrationsA defined way for two pieces of software to talk to each other — the socket one system exposes so another can plug in.

API IntegrationIntegrationsConnecting two systems through their APIs so information moves between them automatically.

Artificial IntelligenceAI FundamentalsSoftware that performs tasks which normally need human judgement — reading, writing, answering questions, or making a decision from messy information.

Automation WorkflowAutomationA defined sequence of steps that runs by itself whenever something specific happens in your business.

Autonomous AgentAI AgentsAn AI agent that runs its task through to completion on its own, without a person approving each step.

Business Process AutomationAutomationAutomating a whole end-to-end business process, rather than a single task inside it.

Call RoutingVoice AIDeciding where a call should go — which team, which person, or straight to an AI agent — based on what the caller needs.

Chatbot TrainingChatbotsGiving a chatbot the material and rules it needs — your documents, your tone, and what to do when it is unsure.

Conditional LogicAutomationThe rules that let an automation take different paths depending on the situation — the if-this-then-that part.

Context WindowAI FundamentalsThe amount of text an AI model can hold in view at once — its short-term working memory for a single request.

Conversational AIChatbotsAI designed to hold a back-and-forth conversation, keeping track of context rather than treating each message separately.

CRM AutomationMarketing AutomationLetting your CRM maintain itself — creating records, updating stages, assigning owners, and setting follow-up tasks automatically.

CRM IntegrationIntegrationsConnecting your customer database to your other tools so contact records stay current without manual updating.

Customer SegmentationMarketing AutomationGrouping customers by shared characteristics so each group gets communication that actually applies to them.

Data PrivacyData & SecurityHandling personal information lawfully and carefully — what you collect, where it goes, how long you keep it, and who can see it.

Email AutomationMarketing AutomationEmails that send themselves in response to a trigger — a booking, a purchase, a form, or a period of silence.

EmbeddingData & SecurityA numerical representation of a piece of text's meaning, which lets software compare how similar two pieces of content are.

EncryptionData & SecurityScrambling data so only someone with the right key can read it — in transit between systems and at rest in storage.

Generative AIAI FundamentalsAI that produces new content — text, images, audio, or code — rather than only classifying or scoring existing data.

HallucinationData & SecurityWhen an AI states something confidently that is not true — an invented policy, price, or detail.

Human-in-the-LoopAI AgentsA deliberate checkpoint where a person reviews or approves what the AI has produced before it takes effect.

Intent RecognitionChatbotsWorking out what a customer is actually trying to do, regardless of the words they used to say it.

Knowledge BaseChatbotsThe organised collection of your business information that an AI assistant is allowed to answer from.

Large Language ModelAI FundamentalsThe text engine behind most modern AI tools — trained on huge amounts of writing so it can understand a request and respond in natural language.

Lead NurturingMarketing AutomationStaying usefully in touch with people who are interested but not ready to buy yet.

Lead QualificationAutomationWorking out which enquiries are a genuine fit for your business, and how urgently each one should be handled.

Lead ScoringMarketing AutomationGiving each lead a number that reflects how well they fit and how engaged they are, so the team knows who to contact first.

Live ChatChatbotsReal-time chat with a human agent — usually paired with an AI chatbot that handles the first response and escalates when needed.

Machine LearningAI FundamentalsA way of building software that learns rules from examples in your data instead of being given every rule by a developer.

Marketing AutomationMarketing AutomationSoftware that runs marketing tasks automatically — follow-up messages, campaigns, and audience updates — based on what customers do.

Multi-Agent SystemAI AgentsSeveral specialised AI agents working together on one process, each handling the part it is set up for.

Natural Language ProcessingAI FundamentalsThe field of AI concerned with letting software understand and work with everyday human language, written or spoken.

PromptAI FundamentalsThe instruction given to an AI model — the wording that sets the task, the tone, and the boundaries of the answer.

Retrieval-Augmented GenerationData & SecurityA method that has the AI look up your actual documents before answering, so responses come from your content rather than its memory.

Speech-to-TextVoice AIConverting spoken audio into written text so software can read and act on what was said.

Text-to-SpeechVoice AITurning written text into natural-sounding spoken audio — the AI's speaking voice.

Third-Party IntegrationIntegrationsConnecting your business to software you do not own — a payment provider, calendar, messaging platform, or supplier system.

Tool CallingAI AgentsThe mechanism that lets an AI model use real software — looking up a booking, creating a CRM record, sending an email.

TriggerAutomationThe event that starts an automation — a form submission, a new email, a payment, or simply a set time.

Vector DatabaseData & SecurityA database built to search by meaning rather than exact wording — the storage layer behind most AI knowledge search.

Voice AIVoice AIThe broader category of AI that works with spoken language — on the phone, in an app, or through a device.

Voice RecognitionVoice AIIdentifying characteristics of a speaker's voice — who is talking, or which of several speakers said what.

WebhookIntegrationsAn automatic message one system sends to another the moment something happens, so nothing has to keep checking.

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