AI training glossary
128 terms explained in plain English.
A
- Acceptable use policyA policy that sets out permitted and prohibited uses of company technology. An AI policy often extends an existing acceptable use policy rather than replacing it.Responsible AI
- AccreditationFormal recognition by an external body that a course, qualification or training provider meets its standards.Buying and measuring training
- Adoption rateThe share of trained people who are using a tool or method in their work some time after training.Buying and measuring training
- Adult learning(Andragogy)The study and practice of how adults learn. Malcolm Knowles’s principles hold that adults learn best when training is relevant to their work, draws on their experience and lets them direct their own learning.Learning design
- Agent skillsPackaged instructions, sometimes with files or scripts, that an AI agent loads when a task calls for them, so it handles a recurring task the same way each time.AI at work
- Agentic AIAI used in an agent-like way: given a goal and tools, it carries out multistep work with some independence. The term describes an approach, not a single product.AI at work
- Agentic government(UAE Government 4.0)The UAE federal plan, approved in April 2026, to deliver half of government services and operations through AI agents within two years.AI in the UAE
- AI agentAn AI system that works toward a goal by planning steps and using tools, such as browsing, editing files or sending messages, with less step-by-step direction from a person.AI at work
- AI and copyrightThe legal questions around AI and creative work, including whether training on copyrighted material is allowed and who, if anyone, owns AI-generated output. Answers differ by country and are still being settled.Responsible AI
- AI assistant(AI chat assistant)An AI tool that responds to your requests in a conversation by answering, drafting, summarizing or analyzing. It acts when you ask, then waits for your next message.AI at work
- AI champion(AI ambassador)A staff member who learns AI tools early and helps colleagues adopt them by sharing examples and answering questions.Roles and skills
- AI copilotAn AI assistant built into an app you already use, such as a word processor, spreadsheet or email client, that works on the content open in that app.AI at work
- AI design toolA tool that generates or edits visual work, such as slides, page layouts, mockups and graphics, from text instructions.AI at work
- AI ethicsThe principles that guide what AI should and shouldn’t be used for, and how, such as fairness, privacy, honesty and respect for human rights.Responsible AI
- AI fluencyThe ability to work with AI effectively, efficiently, ethically and safely in your own tasks. The AI Fluency framework by Rick Dakan and Joseph Feller describes it through four competencies: delegation, description, discernment and diligence.Roles and skills
- AI governanceThe policies, roles and processes an organization uses to decide which AI tools are allowed, how they are used and who is accountable.Responsible AI
- AI literacyUnderstanding what AI is, what it can and can’t do, and what its risks are, well enough to use it safely and judge its output.Roles and skills
- AI MajlisA gathering where Dubai government leaders and AI specialists discuss AI adoption, using the traditional majlis format of open discussion.AI in the UAE
- AI risk assessmentA structured review of what could go wrong with an AI use case, such as errors, bias, privacy breaches or misuse, and how likely and serious each risk is.Responsible AI
- AI task forceA team inside an organization that coordinates AI adoption, such as choosing use cases, running pilots and tracking results. Dubai government entities use them alongside their Chief AI Officers.AI in the UAE
- AI use caseA specific task or process where AI is applied, described clearly enough to test and measure.AI at work
- AI-generated contentText, images, audio or video produced fully or partly by AI. Many organizations set rules for when it must be reviewed or disclosed.AI at work
- AiNativeAn Abu Dhabi program to train 20,000 government employees in AI by the end of 2026, toward a goal of becoming an AI-native government by 2027. It also offers free public training through the Tomouh app.AI in the UAE
- Algorithmic biasSystematic unfairness in AI output, often inherited from skewed training data or design choices, that disadvantages certain groups.Responsible AI
- Artificial intelligence(AI)Software that performs tasks that normally need human judgment, such as writing, summarizing, classifying or predicting, by learning patterns from data instead of following only fixed rules.AI fundamentals
B
- Blended learningTraining that combines online and in-person learning, such as self-paced lessons before a face-to-face workshop.Training formats
- Bloom’s taxonomyA framework that orders thinking skills from remember and understand, through apply and analyze, to evaluate and create. Trainers use it to write outcomes at the right level.Learning design
- BootcampAn intensive, multiweek program aimed at building job-ready skills quickly, usually with daily sessions and a final project.Training formats
C
- Capstone projectA final project that applies everything learned in a course to a real problem, often taken from the learner’s own job.Learning design
- Certificate of completionA document confirming that someone attended or finished a course. On its own, it doesn’t confirm they passed an assessment.Buying and measuring training
- CertificationA credential awarded after passing an assessment against a defined standard, sometimes with an expiry date or renewal requirement.Buying and measuring training
- Change managementA structured approach to helping people adopt a new way of working, covering communication, training, support and handling resistance.Roles and skills
- ChatbotSoftware that holds a text or voice conversation. Older chatbots follow scripted paths; AI chatbots generate their replies with a language model.AI fundamentals
- Chief AI Officer(CAIO)A senior leader responsible for an organization’s AI strategy, adoption and governance. Dubai’s 2024 AI blueprint required every Dubai government entity to appoint one.Roles and skills
- Cohort-based courseA course in which a group starts and finishes together on a fixed schedule, with live sessions, shared deadlines and peer discussion.Training formats
- Community of practiceA group of people who share a work area and meet regularly to exchange methods, problems and examples.Training formats
- Completion rateThe share of enrolled learners who finish a course. A high completion rate doesn’t show that people use what they learned.Buying and measuring training
- Connector(Integration)A link that lets an AI tool read from or act in another app, such as email, a calendar, a drive or a CRM, with your permission.AI at work
- Context windowThe amount of text an AI model can take into account at one time, including the conversation, attached files and its own replies.AI fundamentals
- Continuing professional development(CPD)The ongoing learning professionals do to keep their skills current, often required by professional bodies as a condition of membership.Buying and measuring training
- Corporate trainingTraining an organization arranges for its own staff, paid for by the employer and usually tied to business goals.Training formats
- CPD hours(CPD points)The units in which CPD is recorded. Many professional bodies count one hour of structured learning as one CPD hour, though rules differ by body.Buying and measuring training
- CurriculumThe full planned set of courses or units in a program, including what is taught, in what order and how it is assessed.Learning design
- Custom trainingTraining designed for one organization, using its own tools, documents and tasks rather than generic examples.Training formats
D
- Data privacyProtecting personal information from being collected, used or shared without proper permission. With AI tools, this includes what you paste in and how the provider stores it.Responsible AI
- DeepfakeAI-generated or AI-altered audio, video or images that realistically show a person saying or doing something they didn’t.Responsible AI
- Digital skillsThe skills needed to use digital tools for work and daily life, from email and spreadsheets to online safety. AI skills are one part of them.Roles and skills
- Dubai Centre for AI(DCAI)A Dubai Future Foundation center that helps Dubai government entities test and adopt AI, including through pilots, training and published lists of priority AI use cases.AI in the UAE
- Dubai Ethical AI ToolkitA Digital Dubai framework with four AI principles (ethics, security, humanity and inclusiveness), guidelines on fairness, accountability, transparency and explainability, and a self-assessment tool.AI in the UAE
- Dubai Universal Blueprint for AIA Dubai government plan launched in April 2024 to speed up AI adoption. Its first phase required a Chief AI Officer in every government entity, launched AI and Web3 incubators and introduced an AI Week in schools.AI in the UAE
E
- E-learning(Online learning)Learning delivered through digital platforms, either self-paced or live. In workplaces it often refers to self-paced modules hosted on a learning platform.Training formats
- ExplainabilityHow well people can understand why an AI system produced a particular output or decision.Responsible AI
F
- FacilitationGuiding a group through discussion and activities so participants do most of the thinking, rather than delivering a lecture.Learning design
- FacilitatorA person who guides a group’s discussion and activities so participants reach conclusions themselves, often without being the subject expert.Roles and skills
- Federal agentic AI training programA UAE program approved in May 2026 to train 80,000 federal government employees in agentic AI, with separate tracks for leadership, technical, specialist roles, the general workforce and trainers.AI in the UAE
- Fine-tuningFurther training of an existing model on a specific set of examples so it performs better at one task or style. Most workplace users get similar results through prompts, instructions and files.AI fundamentals
- Formative assessmentChecks during training that show what learners have understood so far, so the trainer can adjust. They are usually ungraded.Learning design
- Future skills(Future-ready skills)Skills expected to grow in demand as work changes. Lists usually include AI and data skills alongside judgment, communication and adaptability.Roles and skills
G
H
- HallucinationAn AI response that states something false or invented as if it were true, such as a made-up statistic, quote or source.AI fundamentals
- Hands-on exerciseAn activity in which learners do the task themselves during training, rather than watching a demonstration.Learning design
- Human oversightPeople supervising AI systems, with the authority to review, correct or stop them, especially where decisions affect others.Responsible AI
- Human-in-the-loopA setup in which a person reviews, approves or corrects AI output before it takes effect.AI at work
I
K
- Kirkpatrick modelA four-level model for evaluating training: reaction (did they like it), learning (did they learn), behavior (do they use it at work) and results (did the organization benefit).Buying and measuring training
- Knowledge cutoffThe date after which a model has no information from its training data. Without a web search tool, it can’t know about events after that date.AI fundamentals
- Knowledge workerSomeone whose main work is handling information, such as analyzing, writing, deciding, planning or advising, rather than physical production. Peter Drucker coined the term in 1959.Roles and skills
L
- Large language model(LLM)An AI model trained on large amounts of text to predict the next word, which lets it answer questions, draft text and follow instructions.AI fundamentals
- Learning and development(L&D)The function in an organization responsible for staff training and skills growth.Roles and skills
- Learning management system(LMS, learning platform)Software that hosts courses, enrolls learners, tracks progress and records completions.Buying and measuring training
- Learning objectiveWhat the trainer intends the training to achieve. The term is often used interchangeably with learning outcome; when the two are separated, objectives describe the trainer’s aims and outcomes describe what learners can show.Learning design
- Learning outcomeWhat a learner will be able to do after training, stated in observable terms.Learning design
- Learning pathwayA recommended sequence of courses or activities toward a goal, often different for each role or skill level.Learning design
- Lesson planA trainer’s plan for one session, setting out the outcomes, timing, activities, materials and how learning will be checked.Learning design
- Live online training(Virtual instructor-led training (VILT))Training delivered in real time over video, with a trainer leading and participants able to ask questions and do exercises together.Training formats
- Lunch and learnA short, informal session held at lunchtime, where staff learn about a topic while they eat, often led by a colleague.Training formats
M
- Machine learningA branch of AI in which systems learn patterns from examples instead of being programmed with explicit rules. Large language models are one type of machine learning.AI fundamentals
- MasterclassA session led by an expert that goes deep on one topic, usually with more demonstration and discussion than hands-on practice.Training formats
- MicrolearningLearning in short, focused units, typically 2 to 10 minutes, each covering one skill or idea.Training formats
- Minister of State for Artificial IntelligenceA UAE cabinet position created in 2017, the first government ministerial role dedicated to AI anywhere in the world.AI in the UAE
- ModelThe trained AI system that generates the output. The app you type into is the interface; the model is the engine behind it, and one app can offer several models.AI fundamentals
- Model Context Protocol(MCP)An open standard, introduced by Anthropic in 2024, for connecting AI tools to other apps and data sources. A service builds one MCP server and any compatible AI tool can use it.AI at work
- Multimodal AIAI that can work with more than one kind of input or output, such as text, images, audio and files, in the same conversation.AI fundamentals
N
O
P
- Per-seat pricingPricing based on the number of participants, common for courses, cohorts and online platforms.Buying and measuring training
- Personalized learningTraining adjusted to each learner’s role, prior skill and pace, rather than one fixed course for everyone.Learning design
- Pilot programA small first run of training, or of an AI tool, with one team, used to test results before a wider rollout.Buying and measuring training
- Project workspaceA space in an AI tool that keeps the files, instructions and conversations for one piece of work together, so you don’t re-explain the context each time.AI at work
- PromptThe instruction or question you give an AI tool, including any text, files or examples attached to it.AI fundamentals
- Prompt engineeringWriting and testing prompts to get reliable, useful results from AI tools, by giving clear instructions, context, examples and the format you want.AI at work
- Prompt libraryA shared collection of tested prompts that a team reuses for recurring tasks, so results stay consistent and new staff don’t start from scratch.AI at work
- Prompt literacyThe ability to write clear prompts and judge the results. Dubai’s One Million Prompters program teaches it in its foundation modules.Roles and skills
R
- Reasoning model(Thinking model)A model that works through a problem in steps before giving its final answer. It is slower and uses more tokens, and it tends to do better on multistep tasks.AI fundamentals
- ReskillingTraining people for a different role, usually because their current role is changing or disappearing.Roles and skills
- Responsible AIBuilding and using AI in ways that are safe, fair, transparent and accountable, with named people answerable for the results.Responsible AI
- Retrieval practiceRecalling information from memory, through quizzes, questions or explaining it without notes, which strengthens learning more than rereading.Learning design
- Retrieval-augmented generation(RAG)A setup in which an AI tool first searches a set of documents for relevant passages, then uses them to write its answer.AI fundamentals
S
- ScaffoldingSupport a trainer gives early on, such as templates, worked examples or step-by-step prompts, then removes as learners gain skill.Learning design
- Self-paced courseA course learners take on their own schedule, usually through recorded videos, readings and quizzes, without a live trainer.Training formats
- Shadow AIStaff using AI tools for work that their organization hasn’t approved or doesn’t know about.Responsible AI
- Skills gapThe difference between the skills a role needs and the skills the people in it currently have.Buying and measuring training
- Spaced repetitionReviewing material at increasing intervals over days or weeks, so it moves into long-term memory.Learning design
- Summative assessmentAn assessment at the end of training that measures whether learners met the outcomes, often used for certification.Learning design
- System prompt(Custom instructions)Standing instructions that an AI tool applies to every message in a conversation or workspace, such as your role, tone and formatting preferences.AI at work
T
- TokenA small unit of text, often a word or part of a word, that AI models read and generate. Usage limits, context windows and API pricing are all counted in tokens.AI fundamentals
- Train-the-trainerA program that prepares people to teach a subject to others, covering both the content and how to deliver it.Training formats
- TrainerA person who teaches a defined skill or body of knowledge to a group, usually with set outcomes and materials.Roles and skills
- Training budgetThe money an organization sets aside for staff learning, often planned per employee per year or per department.Buying and measuring training
- Training dataThe text, images and other material used to build an AI model. It shapes what the model knows, how it writes and which biases it may carry.AI fundamentals
- Training day rateA fixed fee for a trainer’s full day of delivery, often with a separate fee for preparation or customization.Buying and measuring training
- Training needs analysis(TNA)A review of the gap between the skills people have and the skills their work requires, done before designing training.Learning design
- Training ROI(Return on training investment)The value training returns compared with what it cost, measured through results such as time saved, errors reduced or revenue gained.Buying and measuring training
- Transfer of learningApplying what was learned in training to real work afterward. It is the main test of whether training worked.Learning design
- TransparencyBeing open about when and how AI is used, what data it relies on and what it can’t do.Responsible AI
U
- UAE AI and data authorityA federal body announced in June 2026 that merges the UAE AI Office, the digital government sector and the UAE Data Office into one authority.AI in the UAE
- UAE AI CampA national program that has offered free AI courses to UAE residents since 2018, as part of the National Strategy for AI.AI in the UAE
- UAE AI Seal(UAI Seal)A four-level mark of approval for ethical AI, introduced under the UAE National Strategy for AI 2031.AI in the UAE
- UAE Charter for the Development and Use of AIA national charter published in July 2024 that sets 12 principles for developing and using AI in the UAE, including safety, avoiding algorithmic bias, data privacy, transparency and human oversight. It is guidance, not binding law.AI in the UAE
- UAE National Strategy for AI 2031The federal government’s plan to make the UAE a global leader in AI by 2031. It sets eight objectives, including building an AI talent base, adopting AI across government services and putting governance and regulation in place.AI in the UAE
- UAE school AI curriculumArtificial intelligence as a mandatory subject in UAE government schools from kindergarten to Grade 12, introduced in the 2025–26 academic year. It covers data, algorithms, AI applications and their effect on society.AI in the UAE
- UpskillingTraining people to get better at their current role, often by adding new tools or methods.Roles and skills
V
W
- WebinarA live online presentation to an audience, usually with little interaction beyond questions in the chat.Training formats
- Workflow automationSoftware that runs a fixed sequence of steps when a trigger happens, such as a new form entry or a set time. Every step is defined in advance, unlike an agent, which decides its own steps.AI at work
- Workplace AI policyA written set of rules for how staff may use AI at work, covering approved tools, data that must not be shared, review requirements and disclosure.Responsible AI
- WorkshopA hands-on session, usually two hours to a full day, in which participants practice a skill on real tasks with a trainer present.Training formats
Commonly confused terms
AI literacy is understanding what AI is and what it can and can’t do. AI fluency is the practical ability to work with it well on your own tasks. Literacy comes first; fluency comes from practice.
Upskilling improves how someone does their current job. Reskilling prepares them for a different job.
A workshop is hands-on: participants practice on real tasks. A masterclass is expert-led and deep on one topic, with more demonstration than practice. “Training” is the umbrella term for both.
An assistant responds to each request and waits for the next one. An agent takes a goal, plans the steps and uses tools to carry them out with less direction.
An outcome states what the learner can do afterward. An objective states what the trainer aims to achieve. Many organizations use the two interchangeably.
A certificate of completion shows someone finished a course. A certification shows they passed an assessment against a standard. Accreditation is when an external body approves the course or provider itself.
E-learning is delivered entirely through digital platforms. Blended learning combines online study with in-person sessions. Live online training is real-time and trainer-led over video.
A self-paced course runs on each learner’s schedule. A cohort-based course moves a group through together on fixed dates, with live sessions and peer discussion.