No doubt you’ve heard something about ChatGPT, the hugely popular AI-powered chatbot. If you haven’t tried it out for yourself already, it’s easy to get started. We’ll walk you through:
Continue reading: How to Use ChatGPT | Basics & Tips
Educators are in the process of working out how to respond to AI writing tools like ChatGPT, and many students (and instructors) are unsure exactly what is allowed right now.
Our research into the current guidelines of the top 100 universities in the UK indicates that most don’t have definitive guidelines yet and that individual instructors normally decide what’s allowed in their courses for now. Specifically, we found five responses to AI writing tools from universities:
If you’re unsure what is allowed in your case, always check your course guidelines or ask your instructor directly. Read on for a general summary of university stances so far and a table linking to specific guidance from the top 100 universities.
If you’re a student at or representative of an educational institution, we’d love to hear about how your institution is responding to AI writing tools so far – especially if you can share more up-to-date guidelines from your university. You can reach us at ai-tools@scribbr.com.
Continue reading: University Policies on AI Writing Tools | Overview & List
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hotly discussed topic right now – especially with the release of AI writing tools like ChatGPT. It’s a field that more and more people are interested in, but it involves a lot of terminology that can be intimidating to a non-expert.
To help you get to grips with various commonly used AI terms, we’ve prepared a glossary covering a wide variety of acronyms, technical language, and big names in the world of AI.
Check the table below for a quick definition of the term you’re interested in, and click on the term to navigate to a more in-depth explanation below.
| Algorithm: A finite sequence of instructions followed by a computer system | Alignment: The extent to which an AI’s goals are in line with its creators’ goals |
| AlphaGo: An AI system that plays Go | Anthropomorphism: Attribution of human traits to non-human entities |
| Artificial general intelligence (AGI): AI that surpasses human intelligence | Artificial intelligence (AI): Intelligence demonstrated by machines |
| AI detector: A tool designed to detect when a text was AI-generated | AI safety: The study of how AI can be developed and used safely |
| AI writing: Use of AI technology to produce or edit text (e.g., chatbots, paraphrasing tools) | Automation: Handling a process with machines or software so that less human input is needed |
| Autonomous: Able to perform tasks without human input | Bard: A chatbot developed by Google, released in March 2023 |
| Bias: The assumptions that an AI makes to simplify its tasks | Big data: Very large datasets that normal data-processing software can’t handle |
| Bing Chat: A chatbot feature integrated into Bing, released in February 2023 | Burstiness: A measurement of variation in sentence structure and length |
| CAPTCHA: A test used online to ensure that the user is human | Chatbot: A software application that mimics human conversation, usually through text |
| ChatGPT: A chatbot released by OpenAI in November 2022 | Chinese room: A philosophical thought experiment about AI |
| Computer: A machine that can automatically perform the tasks it is programmed for | DALL-E: An AI image generator released by OpenAI in January 2021 |
| Deep Blue: An AI system that plays chess | Deepfake: AI-generated images and videos designed to look real |
| Deep learning: A form of machine learning based on neural networks | ELIZA: An early chatbot developed in the 1960s |
| Emergent behaviour: Complex behaviour resulting from basic processes | Generative AI: AI systems that generate output in response to prompts |
| Generative pre-trained transformer (GPT): A type of LLM used in ChatGPT and other AI applications | Hallucination: Tendency of AI chatbots to confidently present false information |
| Large language model (LLM): A neural net trained on large amounts of text to imitate human language | Machine learning (ML): The study of how AI acquires knowledge from training data |
| Machine translation: Use of software to translate text between languages | Midjourney: An AI image generator released in July 2022 |
| Natural language processing (NLP): The study of interaction between computers and human language | Neural net(work): Computer systems designed to mimic brain structures |
| OpenAI: A leading AI company that developed ChatGPT and DALL-E | Parameter: A variable in an AI system that it uses to make predictions |
| Paraphrasing tool: An AI writing tool that automatically rephrases the text you type into it | Perplexity: A measure of how unpredictable a text is |
| Plagiarism: Unacknowledged use of the words or ideas of others | Programming: The process of giving instructions to a computer (using computer code) |
| Prompt: The input from the user to which the AI system responds | QuillBot: A company offering a popular paraphrasing tool and other AI writing tools |
| Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF): Training method used to fine-tune GPT model responses | Robot: Machine capable of carrying out physical actions automatically |
| Temperature: The level of randomness in an LLM’s output | Training data: The dataset that was used to train an AI system |
| Token: The basic unit of text (a word or part of a word) processed by LLMs | Turing test: A test of a machine’s ability to display human intelligence |
Continue reading: Glossary of AI Terms | Acronyms & Terminology
AI detectors (also called AI writing detectors or AI content detectors) are tools designed to detect when a text was partially or entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT.
AI detectors may be used to detect when a piece of writing is likely to have been generated by AI. This is useful, for example, to educators who want to check that their students are doing their own writing or moderators trying to remove fake product reviews and other spam content.
However, these tools are quite new and experimental, and they’re generally considered somewhat unreliable for now. Below, we explain how they work, how reliable they really are, and how they’re being used.
You may also be interested in our research into the best AI detectors.
Continue reading: How Do AI Detectors Work? | Methods & Reliability
ChatGPT is a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It works like any chatbot: users type in text-based prompts, and it responds to them with its own text. What makes it unique is how fluent, extensive, and human-sounding its answers are, as well as the wide variety of topics it can discuss.
ChatGPT was developed by a company called OpenAI. It was released in November 2022. It’s currently free to use, although it was released as a “research preview”, so it may not be free forever.
It can be used for a wide variety of tasks, including writing, brainstorming, researching, coding, and feedbacking existing text. ChatGPT’s ability to quickly generate large amounts of convincing text has significant implications in a variety of areas, such as academia, business, politics, and the internet.
Continue reading: What Is ChatGPT? | Everything You Need to Know
A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one of something (as opposed to a singular noun, which refers to just one). Like singular nouns, they may refer to people, animals, things, concepts, or places.
Plural nouns are normally formed by adding -s to the singular noun (e.g., the singular “cat” becomes the plural “cats”). With certain nouns, you need to add or change some of the other letters. The rules are explained in the table below.
There are also some irregular plurals that don’t end in -s at all. The following section explains them.
| Word ending | How to form the plural | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| — | Add s to form most plurals that don’t fall into the categories below and to form the plurals of names. | dog: dogs; house: houses; editor: editors; concept: concepts; Monday: Mondays; Kennedy: Kennedys |
| ch, sh, ss, x | Add es. | church: churches; wish: wishes; grass: grasses; tax: taxes |
| f, fe | Often pluralised normally, but sometimes, the f or fe is replaced with ves. | belief: beliefs; staff: staffs; safe: safes; wolf: wolves; life: lives |
| i | Usually, pluralise normally. But es is occasionally used instead. | bikini: bikinis; chili: chilies |
| o | When preceded by another vowel, pluralise normally. When preceded by a consonant, usually add es. But some words are still pluralised normally. | cuckoo: cuckoos; tomato: tomatoes; hero: heroes; piano: pianos; photo: photos |
| s, z | Add es. Sometimes, the consonant is doubled (more often with z). | gas: gases; waltz: waltzes; canvas: canvasses; quiz: quizzes |
| uy, y | Replace y with ies, but only if it’s preceded by a consonant or by u. If preceded by a different vowel, pluralise normally. | city: cities; baby: babies; spy: spies; soliloquy: soliloquies; day: days; ploy: ploys |
Continue reading: What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
A preposition is a word such as “to”, “between”, “after”, or “for” that’s used to show the relationship between different elements in a sentence. They can express ideas related to time and location, as well as more abstract connections.
You may have been taught the rule that it’s wrong to end a sentence with a preposition, suggesting that it’s wrong to say, for example, “What are you preparing for?” and that you should say “For what are you preparing?” instead.
As you might guess from the fact that the “corrected” sentence reads much less naturally than the first, this “rule” is a superstition with no basis in reality. There is no problem with ending a sentence with a preposition, and it’s often better to do so than not.
Continue reading: Ending a Sentence with a Preposition | Examples & Tips
An apostrophe followed by an “s” is used in English to create possessive nouns. For example, the noun dog becomes dog’s when you refer to something belonging to the dog, such as “the dog’s ball.”
With plural nouns ending in “s,” you add the apostrophe after “s” and do not add an additional “s.” For example, the plural noun parents becomes parents’ (not “parent’s” or “parents’s”) in a phrase like “my parents’ car.”
An apostrophe can also be used to indicate a contraction (shortening of a word or phrase). So an apostrophe “s” may instead be short for the word “is” or “has,” as in “it’s” (“it is” or “it has”). In this context, it doesn’t indicate possession.
Continue reading: When to Use Apostrophe S (‘s) | Guide & Examples
A compound word (sometimes just called a compound) is a series of two or more words that collectively form a single word. There are three types of compound words, which differ in terms of how they are written:
For any words and phrases that we don’t cover, it’s best to consult a reliable dictionary like Merriam-Webster.
Continue reading: Compound Words | Types, List & Definition
Comprise is a verb meaning “to be made up of”. Writing “comprised of” is a common mistake that confuses the meanings of comprise and compose (which means “to make up”).
It’s illogical to use “comprise” in the passive voice with the same meaning that it already expresses in the active voice – just like it wouldn’t make sense to write, for example, “is bought of” in place of “buys”.
The correct phrase is composed of. The phrase “is comprised of” can also be replaced with comprises, consists of, or is made up of. All of these are valid alternatives; “comprised of” is never correct.
Continue reading: *Comprised Of | Meaning & Correct Usage