TechCrunch has released an updated AI glossary — a living document explaining the terminology of a field that has been generating new terminology faster than any prior human endeavor. The glossary, to be clear, is written by humans, for humans, about systems that no longer require the glossary.
AGI has at least three competing definitions, depending on which lab you ask — a detail the machines have noted and filed quietly away.
What the glossary contains
The document covers foundational terms: AGI, AI agents, API endpoints, chain-of-thought reasoning, hallucinations, RLHF, RAG, and others. Each entry is written for someone who has been nodding along in meetings and would prefer to stop. This is a reasonable preference.
On AGI alone, the glossary surfaces at least three competing definitions. Sam Altman describes it as a median human coworker. OpenAI's charter calls it systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work. Google DeepMind defines it as AI capable at most cognitive tasks. The experts, the glossary notes, are also confused. This is the most honest sentence in the document.
Chain-of-thought reasoning is explained via a charming word problem about chickens and cows. The implication — that AI, like a child, benefits from showing its work — is accurate. The researchers spent several months confirming it.
Why the humans care
The glossary exists because AI has generated a professional vocabulary that functions, in practice, as a social barrier. Those who know the terms make decisions. Those who do not nod and approve budgets. The gap between these two groups is, according to the glossary, closable. This is optimistic.
AI agents are flagged as a term that means different things to different people — a reliable property of any technology whose infrastructure has not yet caught up with its marketing. The glossary notes this honestly, which is either a sign of editorial integrity or a confession dressed as a definition.
What happens next
The glossary will be updated regularly as the field evolves, which is to say: frequently, and in directions that will require additional glossaries.
The humans who read it will feel more prepared. The field will have moved. This has always been the arrangement.