What is Artificial Intelligence? A plain English explanation
For about six months I used the phrase ‘artificial intelligence’ in meetings without being entirely sure what it meant. I had a general sense — computers doing clever things — but if someone had asked me to explain it properly I would have changed the subject.
Here’s what it actually is.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is technology that can perform tasks that normally require human thinking.
Understanding language. Recognising patterns. Making decisions. Answering questions. Writing text.
The AI tools you’re hearing about right now — ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — are all artificial intelligence. Specifically, they’re a type of AI that understands and generates language. You type something in plain English, they respond in plain English.
That’s the version of AI that matters most for working professionals right now.
How does it work?
The short answer: these tools were trained on enormous amounts of text — books, articles, websites, conversations — and learned to predict what a useful, coherent response to any given input looks like.
You don’t need to understand the mechanics any more than you need to understand how a car engine works to drive one. What matters is knowing what it can do and how to ask it well.
Is it the same as the AI in films?
No. The AI in films is science fiction — sentient, self-aware, potentially dangerous. The AI tools you’ll use at work are not that. They’re very capable tools. They don’t have opinions, feelings, or agendas. They respond to instructions.
Think less HAL 9000, more very capable autocomplete that can write a business case.
What can it actually do?
In a professional context, AI is genuinely useful for:
- →Summarising long documents and email threads
- →Writing first drafts of reports, emails, proposals
- →Preparing for meetings and difficult conversations
- →Researching topics and synthesising information
- →Thinking through decisions and problems
- →Generating ideas and testing arguments
It gets things wrong sometimes. It needs to be checked. It works best when you give it clear, specific instructions.
But used well, it will save you significant time every single day.
What That Clicked teaches
That Clicked is an AI training course for professionals over 50. Nine modules covering every AI tool that matters — starting with Microsoft Copilot, which is already sitting inside your Outlook and Teams.
The first two lessons are free. No account needed.
— Anna