AI Glossary for Non-Techies 2026

LLM (Large Language Model)

Meaning: Large Language Model
Explanation:
"An AI that has read a ton of books." The stuff inside the chatbot. GPT-5, Claude, they are all basically this inside.

Multimodal

Meaning: Multiple Modes
Explanation:
"It has eyes and ears." It can not only read text but also see images and hear sounds. Almost all 2026 AIs are like this.

MoE (Mixture of Experts)

Meaning: Mixture of Experts
Explanation:
"Division of Labor." Instead of one giant genius, there's a team of specialized experts (Math expert, Literature expert, Coding expert...) inside the brain, and the right person steps up to answer. This is why smart AIs can be cheap and fast.

Context Window

Meaning: Context Window
Explanation:
"Short-term memory capacity." The amount of text it can remember in one conversation. If this is large, you can feed it an entire thick book and say "summarize this."

Token

Meaning: Sign / Substitute Currency
Explanation:
"One word for AI." In English, 1 word is roughly 0.75 tokens. AI pricing is decided like "how much for 1 million tokens," so it's basically the "currency of the AI world."

Agent / Agentic

Meaning: Agent / Autonomous
Explanation:
"An AI that can run errands." Until now, AI just answered questions (all talk). Agents can actually "act," like opening a browser, searching, and making reservations for you.

CoT (Chain of Thought)

Meaning: Chain of Thought
Explanation:
"Showing your work." A technique where the AI doesn't give the answer immediately but thinks step-by-step ("First A, then B..."). Doing this drastically increases the AI's IQ.

Hallucination

Meaning: Hallucination
Explanation:
"Making stuff up." When AI tells a plausible lie. A chronic condition that still hasn't been completely cured in 2026.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

Meaning: Graphics Processing Unit
Explanation:
"The AI Engine." Originally parts for making video games look good, but they turned out to be great at AI math, so now they are essential parts for running AI.

TPU (Tensor Processing Unit)

Meaning: Tensor Processing Unit
Explanation:
"Google's Private Engine." A monster chip Google built themselves because "GPUs aren't enough." Basically, you can only use these inside Google's cloud.

VRAM (Video RAM)

Meaning: Video Memory
Explanation:
"The size of the GPU's workbench." Memory that comes inside the GPU. The more of this you have, the smarter and bigger the AI you can run on your own PC. A number more important than life itself for local AI users.

Nvidia

Meaning: Nvidia (Company Name)
Explanation:
"The King of AI." The company that makes GPUs. The current AI boom is thanks to them, and AI companies around the world are fighting over their chips. Their stock price is insane.

Local (Environment)

Meaning: Your own place
Explanation:
"Your own PC." Running AI on your own powerful PC (with a GPU) instead of using AI over the internet (cloud). Unlimited and free, but your electric bill goes up.

Git

Meaning: Git (slang for idiot)
Explanation:
"Game Save Point." A tool to save the history of code changes. A time machine that lets you easily say "I messed up, let's go back to where I saved yesterday."

Node

Meaning: Knot / Junction
Explanation:
"Functional Blocks." When building processes in ComfyUI or Dify by connecting boxes (nodes) with lines, these are the "boxes." You connect nodes like "Loader," "Converter," and "Saver."

CLI (Command Line Interface)

Meaning: Command Line Interface
Explanation:
"The Hacker Screen." A screen where you give orders using only the keyboard, no mouse. Scary, but unavoidable when developing AI or running local models.

IDE (Integrated Development Environment)

Meaning: Integrated Development Environment
Explanation:
"The Ultimate Notepad." Specialized software for programming. In 2026, Cursor and VS Code are mainstream, where AI sits next to you and writes code for you.

Fine-tuning

Image: "Hiring a private tutor for re-education"
A method to modify the model's personality and knowledge itself. High accuracy, but huge cost.
Cost: High

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

Image: "Giving it a cheat sheet"
A method to make it answer while looking at a textbook (company data, etc.). Cheap because you don't touch the model itself.
Cost: Low

Chunk

Image: "Bite-sized pieces"
Chopping up text into sizes easy for AI to eat when reading a book in RAG. If you don't do this well, the AI gets indigestion.
Cost: Micro

Prompt Engineering

Image: "Crafting how you ask"
Getting it to work by changing how you say things. Anyone can do it if they get the hang of it.
Cost: Free

AI terms look difficult, but the essence is simple. Especially "RAG (Cheat sheet)" and "Agent (Errand boy)" are right at the center of 2026 trends, so they are useful to remember.