Computer science

28 ideas, each explained on one page with a 60-second lesson you can play right there.

AI Alignment AI alignment steers artificial intelligence toward human goals rather than unintended shortcuts like reward hacking and strategic deception.
Artificial consciousness Artificial consciousness is the idea that a non-biological machine or artificial intelligence could have subjective, inner experiences.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Artificial general intelligence is hypothetical software that can learn, reason, and solve novel problems across any domain without reprogramming.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence enables computers to learn, reason, and make decisions to achieve goals, shifting from rigid logic to neural networks.
Attention (machine learning) Attention is a method in machine learning that calculates how important every component in a sequence is relative to the others.
ChatGPT ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that generates text, speech, and images in response to user prompts.
Chinese Room John Searle's thought experiment showing that a computer running a program can mimic human conversation without understanding it.
Embedding (machine learning) An embedding is a list of numbers that represents complex data like words or images so a computer can work with them mathematically.
Entropy Entropy is a measure of how widely energy in a system spreads out and becomes unavailable to do useful work.
Filter Bubble How algorithms use browsing history, location, and clicks to create personalized web bubbles that isolate users from opposing viewpoints.
Game Theory Game theory uses mathematics to model strategic choices between multiple players whose decisions and payoffs affect each other.
Generative pre-trained transformer GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer: a model that first trains on huge amounts of unlabeled text by predicting the next token, then gets adapted to tasks.
Hallucination (artificial intelligence) An AI hallucination is a false or misleading statement generated by an artificial intelligence model and presented as true fact.
Hofstadter's law Hofstadter's law is the rule that complex work always takes longer than expected, even when you factor in the law itself.
Infinite scrolling Infinite scrolling dynamically loads content as you move down a page, replacing pagination and removing natural stopping points.
Interpersonal ties Interpersonal ties are the information-carrying connections between individual people in a social network.
Moravec's Paradox Moravec's paradox, set out by Hans Moravec in 1988: computers handle chess and calculus with ease but struggle with what a toddler does without thinking, like walking or recognizing a face.
Neural Scaling Law Neural scaling laws describe how model error reliably drops as parameters, training datasets, and computing power increase.
Quantum Computer A quantum computer is a device that processes information using quantum states rather than classical binary switches.
Quantum Entanglement Entangled particles share one quantum state, so their measurements stay correlated across any distance in ways local hidden variables can't explain.
Self-Supervised Learning Self-supervised learning has a model make its own labels from raw data: it hides part of an input and learns by predicting it.
Social engineering (security) Social engineering tricks people into handing over private data or access by exploiting human psychology rather than software bugs.
Spaced repetition Spaced repetition is a learning method where you review information at increasing intervals of time instead of all at once.
Technological singularity The technological singularity is a hypothetical event where self-improving AI triggers rapid, runaway intelligence growth beyond human control.
Timeboxing Timeboxing is a planning method that sets a strict maximum period of time for an activity and refuses to extend it.
Tinder (app) Tinder is a geosocial dating and networking app where people browse nearby profiles by swiping right to like or left to pass.
Transformer (machine learning) Transformers process entire sequences at once using self-attention and positional encodings, replacing sequential neural networks.
Turing Test Alan Turing replaced the question of machine thinking with a test: can a computer converse well enough through text to pass as human?