AI model
Also: models
The trained part of an AI system. It uses a large set of numbers to turn what you give it into a result.
“The judge entered the ___”
It picks a word, adds it to the sentence, and guesses again, thousands of times a second. Everything it writes, from a poem to a legal memo, is built this way. That is why it can be fluent and wrong at the same time: it is predicting what sounds right, not checking what is true.
The fuller definition
An AI model is a computational system whose structure and learned parameters map inputs to outputs. It is one component of an application, rather than the whole product a user interacts with.
Go deeper
Lines represent computational connections with learned values. This tiny diagram illustrates a neural network; a transformer or mixture-of-experts model has additional structures not shown here.
A concrete example
The same underlying model can be accessed through a chat interface or through an API in another program.
The distinction that matters
A product's document storage, search, permissions, and interface are not all capabilities of the model itself.
Related terms
Application
The app or website you actually use, like ChatGPT or Claude. It wraps around the model and decides what files, searches, and tools the model gets.
FoundationsParameter
One of the billions of adjustable numbers inside a model. Training sets them; using the model does not change them.
FoundationsInference
The act of running a trained model to get an answer. In law the word means something else: a conclusion drawn from evidence.
Where it is taught
What actually happens when you ask AI a question?Source and further reading
Google · Machine Learning GlossaryThe definition and example are written for this library. The link gives background, official documentation or legal authority as labelled. Legal scope depends on the jurisdiction and current text; product features depend on release and settings.