AI Basics Quiz: What Do You Actually Know About AI?

Which of the following is the correct relationship between AI, machine learning, and generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of machine learning, which is a type of AI — they are nested categories, not separate things Generative AI came before machine learning, which came before AI AI is only about robots; machine learning is about software; generative AI is a marketing term Machine learning and generative AI are the same thing with different names

What made ChatGPT feel fundamentally different from previous AI products like Siri or Alexa?

ChatGPT was different because it ran on quantum computers unavailable to earlier AI ChatGPT was a general-purpose system — one interface could write, analyze, code, and answer questions across any domain, unlike assistants built for narrow command-response tasks ChatGPT was the first AI ever to understand English language ChatGPT was the first AI to use the internet in real time to answer questions

A lawyer asks an AI for case citations supporting a specific legal argument. What is the risk, and what should they do?

The risk is low if the AI is asked to cite recent cases from 2024 or later There is no risk — AI was trained on legal databases and citations are reliably accurate High hallucination risk — AI may generate convincing-looking but nonexistent case citations. Every citation must be verified in a legal database before use The risk is only if the lawyer is in a jurisdiction not covered by US law training data

Even the most capable AI models in 2026 cannot do which of the following?

Produce grammatically correct text in English Summarize a long document into key bullet points Write code that executes correctly in common programming languages Reliably verify whether their own output is factually correct — models can produce false information with the same confidence as true information

When would you want a LOWER temperature setting for an AI task vs. a HIGHER temperature?

Higher temperature always produces better quality — you should maximize it for all tasks Temperature controls language formality: low for formal writing, high for casual writing Temperature only affects response speed, not content — lower is faster, higher is slower Lower for precise tasks (data extraction, code, factual answers) where consistency matters; higher for creative tasks (brainstorming, varied options, creative writing) where variation is desirable

What is a 'token' in the context of AI language models?

A single character of text — AI processes text one character at a time A security credential required to access AI APIs A cryptocurrency used to pay for AI model usage A unit of text roughly corresponding to a word or word fragment — the basic unit AI models use to process and generate language, and how usage and pricing are measured

What does a 'context window' determine in an AI conversation?

The time window during which a conversation is saved before being deleted How much text the AI can 'see' and refer to at once — including your messages, shared documents, and the AI's own replies. Text outside the window is effectively forgotten The number of different topics an AI can discuss in a single session The size of the screen where AI output is displayed

What is RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) and why did it matter for ChatGPT?

RLHF is the process of connecting AI to the live internet for real-time information RLHF is a hardware upgrade that made ChatGPT run faster than previous models A fine-tuning technique where human raters scored model responses, training the model to produce outputs humans preferred — turning a text completer into a helpful assistant RLHF prevents AI from using any data it scraped without permission

What is the recommended approach when starting with AI tools for the first time?

Take a certification course before using any AI tool in a professional context Pick one tool and use it consistently on real work for 30 days, building habits through hands-on experimentation rather than reading about AI or switching between tools Wait until AI tools become more mature and reliable before starting to use them Try every major AI tool simultaneously to quickly determine which is best

What is 'calibration failure' in the context of AI hallucination?

When an AI model is calibrated to a different language than the user's The model's expressed confidence doesn't match its actual accuracy — AI states invented information in the same confident tone as verified facts, giving users no signal that something is wrong When an AI's internal clock is set to the wrong time zone The process of adjusting an AI model to produce shorter responses