AI comes with its own vocabulary, and a lot of it gets used without explanation. Here are twenty-five terms every church leader should recognize, in plain language, so the next article or webinar makes sense.

The Basics

AI (Artificial Intelligence). Software that does tasks we used to assume needed a human, like writing or summarizing.

LLM (Large Language Model). The kind of AI behind ChatGPT and Claude. It predicts text, which is why it is great at writing and unreliable at math.

Prompt. What you type in. The instruction you give the AI.

Prompt engineering. The skill of writing prompts that get better results.

Token. A chunk of text the AI reads and writes in, roughly three-quarters of a word. Usage and limits are often measured in tokens.

Context window. How much text the AI can hold in mind at once. A bigger window means it can read a longer document.

The Tools

ChatGPT. OpenAI's chatbot, the most widely used.

Claude. Anthropic's chatbot, known for natural writing.

Gemini. Google's chatbot, built into Google Workspace.

Custom GPT. A version of ChatGPT you set up for one job, like answering questions about your church.

Agent. An AI that can take actions for you, not just answer, such as posting or scheduling.

Multimodal. An AI that handles more than text, like images, audio, or video.

How It Behaves

Hallucination. When AI states something false with confidence. The reason you check its work.

Training data. The text an AI learned from. It shapes what the model knows and where it is blind.

Fine-tuning. Extra training that specializes a model for a task.

Model. A single AI system, like GPT-4 or Claude. Companies release new, more capable models often.

Generative AI. AI that creates new content: text, images, or audio.

Guardrails. Limits set on what an AI will do or say.

The Practical Terms

API. A way for software to connect to an AI, which is how other apps add AI features.

Integration. Connecting AI to a tool you already use, like your website or church software.

Transcription. Turning audio or video into text, useful for sermons.

Data privacy. Whether your inputs are stored or used to train the model. The reason to keep sensitive information out of public tools.

Opt out. Turning off the setting that lets a tool train on your data.

Custom instructions. Standing directions you give a tool so you do not repeat yourself every time.

AI policy. Your church's written rules for who uses AI, how, and where the boundaries sit. Most churches do not have one yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an LLM in simple terms? A large language model is AI that predicts text one piece at a time. It powers chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude, which makes it strong at writing and weak at exact math.

What is a prompt? A prompt is the instruction you type into an AI tool. Clearer prompts, with context and constraints, get better results.

What does it mean when AI hallucinates? It means the AI produced something false while sounding certain. Verify names, dates, quotes, and Scripture references before you trust them.

Keep This Handy

Bookmark this page and skim it before your next AI article or training. The vocabulary stops being a barrier once the words are familiar.