| Artificial intelligence (AI) | The ability for computers to imitate cognitive human functions such as learning and problem-solving. Utilized in chatbots, cell phones, vehicles, banking, and more, an AI computer system uses math and logic to simulate reasoning that people use to learn from new information and make decisions [33] . |
| Chatbot | A computer program utilizing artificial intelligence to understand the user’s question and automate responses to them, simulating human conversation. A familiar example includes shopping chatbots that answer customer service and product information questions on the company’s website. More recently, companies like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have been developing more advanced chatbots with large language modeling technology [34] . |
| Digital Assistant | A computer program using artificial intelligence and enhanced with natural language processing to interact with the user and assist with daily activities (e.g. setting alarms, making calls, getting directions). Examples include Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. Alternative terms include “virtual assistant” and “virtual agent” [34] . |
| Hallucination | In the context of chatbots, a hallucination is the generation of “content that is nonsensical or unfaithful to the provided source content.” In other words, the program “makes up” information. This error may be due to discrepancies in the data used for program training or the training itself [35] . |
| Large language model (LLM) | A type of AI system, trained on a vast amount of data and parameters, seeking to model human language. LLMs have learned “structural, relational, and semantic language patterns” that allow them to predict the best next word in a piece of text [36] . ChatGPT is an example of an LLM. |
| Machine learning | The application of teaching computers to extract patterns from collected data for new tasks that they may not have completed before. A real-world example is the ability of music streaming platforms to recommend custom songs and artists based on your past listening history, using data from what other users with similar taste have listened to [33] . |
| Natural language processing (NLP) | Branch of artificial intelligence aimed to program computers to fully “understand” human language to accurately complete the user’s intent and sentiment [37] . |
| OpenAI | An American artificial intelligence company, founded in 2015, that created ChatGPT. ChatGPT is version 3.5 of OpenAI’s chatbot, and was made freely available to the public in November 2022. The most recent version of their chatbot is known as GPT-4, released in March 2023 [38] . |
| Query | A request for data or information. In the context of AI and chatbots, the query is the user’s input or question that is entered into the computer system. |