Artificial intelligence (AI) is software that mimics aspects of human thinking and learning. It supports tasks involving language, pattern recognition, analysis, recommendations, and decisions. section 1.0 section 1.4.1
In IT, AI acts as a practical assistant rather than an independent expert. It can process documents, analyze logs, draft scripts and documentation, extract data, support project decisions, and reduce routine work. Human expertise remains necessary for context, judgment, security, ethics, and verification. section 1.0 section 1.3
Common workplace uses include:
- Analyze incident logs to suggest root causes and identify unusual application or user behavior. section 1.0 section 1.1
- Summarize Microsoft Teams conversations, identify action items, and suggest responses. section 7.2
- Support crisis communication, disaster recovery planning, and emergency preparation. section 14.1.1 section 14.4
- Improve performance reviews by organizing notes, analyzing sentiment, and phrasing constructive feedback. section 15.3
Checking a suspicious email
When an external message seems unusual, copy its source text and headers into an approved AI service and ask: “Determine whether this email is a phishing attempt. Identify the evidence and authentication failures.” Treat the result as assistance, not proof; inspect links, requests for sensitive information, and the surrounding circumstances before acting. section 7.1.3
AI output is not automatically correct. Results depend on the prompt, supplied information, and the user’s ability to judge the response. Avoid exposing sensitive information, check for bias and factual errors, and follow workplace rules for AI use and citation. section 1.2 section 1.6.4 section 1.9
Table 1.1 Glossary of AI terms
|
Term
|
Definition
|
Example
|
|---|---|---|
|
AI
|
Software that mimics human thinking and learning
|
OpenAI ChatGPT, Apple Siri, Tesla Autopilot, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
|
|
AI apps
|
Programs that use AI to handle specific tasks
|
Google Maps for navigation, Netflix and Spotify for recommendations, Zoom for noise reduction
|
|
AI model
|
Software trained on data to spot patterns and make decisions
|
OpenAI GPT-4, Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) AI, Stable Diffusion
|
|
API
|
Rules that let software systems talk to each other; used to add AI features to programs
|
OpenAI API, Anthropic API, Google Cloud AI API, AWS Bedrock API, Azure AI Services API
|
|
Chatbot
|
AI program that talks with users to help or provide information
|
OpenAI ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude (Sonnet frontend)
|
|
Cloud-hosted AI
|
AI systems running on internet servers that are easy to use and scale
|
OpenAI API, Azure AI services, AWS AI services, Google AI services
|
|
Generative AI
|
AI that creates new content by learning from existing data
|
DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, ChatGPT, Google Imagen
|
|
LLMs
|
Big AI systems trained on lots of text that can understand and write like humans
|
OpenAI GPT-4, Google Gemini, Anthropic Sonnet, Meta Llama
|
|
Local LLM
|
AI that runs on your own computers for better privacy and control
|
Meta Llama, Mistral AI, Microsoft Phi, Black Forest Labs FLUX
|
|
SLMs (small language models)
|
Smaller AI models that work well with limited resources
|
OpenAI GPT-4o mini, Microsoft Phi, Mistral Small
|
Use the glossary to distinguish AI, AI applications, AI models, APIs, chatbots, and cloud-hosted AI systems. section 1.4.1
