IT Glossary
Technical terms explained
IT terms with technical background.
Categories: Software, laws, business models, network concepts
Artificial Intelligence Concept
Also: AI
Umbrella term for methods that automate tasks previously performed primarily by humans
AI Act Law
Also: EU AI Act, AI Regulation, Artificial Intelligence Act
EU regulation governing AI systems according to risk levels - in force since August 2024, deadlines for High-Risk AI postponed to 2027/2028 by the Digital Omnibus
API Concept
Also: Application Programming Interface, Interface, Programming Interface, REST API, Web API
An interface that allows programs to communicate with each other without requiring human intervention
Chat Model Concept
Also: Instruct Model, Instruction-Tuned Model
Foundation Model adapted through fine-tuning for conversational behavior and instruction following
Cloud Act Law
Also: CLOUD Act, Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, US Cloud Act
US law that allows U.S. authorities to access data held by U.S. companies worldwide, regardless of where the servers are located
Cloud Model Concept
Also: Cloud API, Cloud-Based Model
Language model that runs on a provider's infrastructure and is accessed through an API
Compound Words Concept
Also: Compound Word, Compounds
Compound words that tokenizers often split into multiple fragments - particularly relevant in German
Context Window Concept
Also: Context Length
Maximum number of tokens that a language model can process at the same time
CPU Hardware
Also: Processor, Central Processing Unit, Main Processor
Versatile main processor of a computer with a small number of powerful cores and comparatively limited parallelism
Deployer Law
Also: AI Act Deployer
Under the AI Act, the role of the person or organization that professionally uses an AI system under its own responsibility
Deterministic Concept
Also: Determinism
Property of a computation that produces the same output for identical input - for language models, depending on the inference configuration, especially the temperature setting
Digital Omnibus Law
Also: AI Omnibus, Digital Omnibus on AI
EU legislative package (not an official legal title, but a commonly used collective term) that amends several existing digital laws—including the AI Act—through a single legislative procedure
Fine-Tuning Concept
Also: Fine Adjustment, Additional Training
Additional training of an already trained Foundation Model for a specific task or style
Foundation Model Concept
Also: Base Model, Foundation Model
Language model directly after pretraining, without additional fine-tuning for conversational behavior
GDPR Law
Also: General Data Protection Regulation, EU Data Protection Regulation, EU GDPR
EU law that regulates how organizations must handle personal data - in force since May 2018
General-Purpose AI Law
Also: GPAI, General-Purpose AI Model, Foundation Model (AI Act context)
Category defined by the AI Act for AI models with a wide range of possible uses, such as those underlying modern language models
GGUF Hardware
Also: GGUF Format, GGUF File
File format for quantized language models that enables local execution with tools such as llama.cpp or Ollama
GPU Hardware
Also: Graphics Processor, Graphics Processing Unit
Processor that performs many simple computations in parallel, making it particularly well suited for language model inference
Hallucination Concept
Also: AI Hallucination
Plausible-sounding but factually incorrect information generated by a language model
High-Risk AI Law
Also: High-Risk AI System
AI system that, under the AI Act, poses significant risks to safety or fundamental rights and is therefore subject to strict obligations—high risk is a property of the use, not of the technology
Inference Concept
Use of a trained language model to generate a response without changing the model itself
IP Address Concept
Also: IP, Internet Protocol Address, IPv4, IPv6, Public IP, Private IP
Unique number that identifies every device on a network - like a mailing address for computers
Language Model Concept
Also: LLM, Large Language Model
Neural network specialized in processing text and representing language as probability calculations
Local Model Concept
Also: On-Premises Model
Language model that runs on local hardware instead of being accessed through a provider's cloud API
Lua Programming
Also: Lua Programming Language, Lua 5.1, LuaJIT
Lightweight embeddable programming language from Brazil, developed at a university without corporate funding
Neural Network Concept
Also: Artificial Neural Network
Mathematical function with trainable weights that progressively transforms input values into output values
Parameter Concept
Also: Model Parameter, Weights, Weight
Trainable numerical values in a neural network that determine the behavior of a language model
PRISM Security
Also: PRISM Program, NSA PRISM, US-5334
Classified NSA surveillance program that provides standardized access to data held by U.S. technology companies based on Section 702 orders
Prompt Concept
Also: Input, User Prompt
Text input that forms the starting point for a language model's computation
Prompt Engineering Concept
Also: Prompt Design, Prompt Creation
Deliberate formulation of prompts to increase the likelihood of a more suitable model response
Prompt Injection Concept
Conflicting instruction placed within the context that competes with the System Prompt or the user's intent for the same probability distribution
Provider Law
Also: AI Act Provider
Under the AI Act, the role of the person or organization that develops an AI system and places it on the market under its own name or trademark
Quantization Concept
Also: Model Quantization
Reduction of the numerical precision of model parameters to decrease memory usage and computational cost
RAM Hardware
Also: System Memory, Random Access Memory, Main Memory
Fast, volatile computer memory that stores model parameters for processing by the CPU
RSS Protocol
Also: RSS Feed, Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, Feed, Atom Feed, Web Feed
Standardized format for subscribing to website content without relying on platform algorithms
Self-Attention Concept
Also: Attention Mechanism
Mechanism that relates every token to every other token within the context to determine its meaning
Shadow Ban Concept
Also: Invisible Ban, Reach Restriction, Algorithmic Filtering, Hidden Censorship, Shadowban
Your posts remain online but are shown to far fewer people—without informing you.
SSD Hardware
Also: Solid State Drive, Flash Storage, NVMe SSD, SATA SSD
Storage device with no moving parts—faster and more durable than traditional hard drives, but with a finite write endurance
System Prompt Concept
Also: System Instruction
Instruction text sent to the model before the user's input that establishes a framework without enforcing it
Tech Foundation Concept
Also: Technology Foundation, Software Foundation, Open Source Foundation, Tech Foundation, Foundation
Organization that manages open-source projects - often funded and influenced by large technology companies
Temperature Concept
Also: Sampling Temperature
Setting that controls how predictable or varied a language model selects tokens
Token Concept
Also: Tokens, Language Model Token
Smallest unit of text processed by a language model - part of a word, a whole word, or a sequence of characters
Tokenization Concept
Also: Tokenizing, Tokenizer
Breaking text into tokens before a language model can process it
Training Concept
Also: Model Training, Pretraining
Process in which the parameters of a neural network are adjusted using example data
Transformer Concept
Also: Transformer Architecture, Transformer Model
Neural network architecture that relates tokens through Self-Attention and forms the foundation of modern language models
Transparency Obligation Law
Also: Transparency Obligations, Disclosure Obligation
AI Act requirement that certain AI systems or their outputs must be recognizable as such to humans
Venture Capital Concept
Also: VC, Risk Capital, Startup Capital, Equity Investor, Equity Financing
Investors provide millions in funding to startups in exchange for company shares and influence over business decisions
VRAM Hardware
Also: Graphics Memory, Video RAM
Memory directly attached to the GPU that limits the maximum model size during GPU-accelerated inference