IB Digital Society Topic 3 - Content - Digital Society Key Definitions

The design of digital systems so that people with disabilities can use them, through features like screen readers, captions, and alternative ways to input. Well-designed systems widen inclusion, while poorly designed ones create new barriers.

A component that turns a system's decisions into physical action, such as a motor, wheel, or robotic gripper that moves or manipulates the world.

The laws, rules, standards, and oversight that guide how AI is developed and used. Because it varies widely between countries and is often slower than the technology, governance of AI is uneven and incomplete.

A period when interest and funding in artificial intelligence collapse after inflated promises fail to materialise. AI has gone through several such winters followed by renewed booms.

A finite sequence of clear, unambiguous steps that takes an input and follows a set procedure to produce an output or solve a problem.

The principle that the people and organisations who build and deploy an algorithm are answerable for its effects.

Systematic, unfair outcomes produced by a computer system, often because the data it learned from under-represents some groups or encodes past inequality. In healthcare it can mean a tool works well for some patients and poorly for others.

A systematic error in an algorithm that produces unfair outcomes, often by favouring one group over another.

The tendency to attribute human traits, feelings, or intentions to a machine. It can make robots easier to interact with, but can also mislead people about what a machine really understands.

A hypothetical AI that could understand, learn, and apply knowledge across any task as flexibly as a human. Also called strong or full AI, it does not yet exist.

A field of computer science dedicated to building systems that can replicate human intelligence and answer complex queries.

The basic unit of an artificial neural network, loosely modelled on a brain cell. It takes in numbers, combines them using weights, and passes on a signal if the combined value is strong enough.

The idea that human attention is a scarce, valuable resource that platforms compete to capture and sell to advertisers, shaping media to be as engaging and hard to put down as possible.

Technology that overlays digital content onto a view of the real world, through a phone screen or glasses, adding to what you see rather than replacing it.

The use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention.

An early self-operating machine, often mechanical, that performs a fixed sequence of movements on its own. Automata were forerunners of modern robots but had no sensing or real decision-making.

A digital system that can sense its environment and act to reach a goal with little or no human control. It need not have a physical body, so it is a broader category than a robot.

A vehicle that can sense its surroundings and drive itself with little or no human input, using sensors, cameras, and AI to navigate.

The degree to which a system can operate and make decisions on its own, without human control. Autonomy is a spectrum, from simple assistance to full independence.

The maximum amount of data a network connection can carry in a given time, usually measured in bits per second; higher bandwidth means more data can flow at once.

Datasets so large, fast-moving, and varied that ordinary tools cannot store or process them, usually described by the four Vs: volume, velocity, variety, and veracity.

A system whose internal workings cannot be easily inspected or explained. Many neural networks are black boxes: they can be accurate while no one can fully explain how they reached a particular output.

A shared, append-only record made of blocks linked by cryptographic codes, so that any later tampering is easy to detect and the data stays trustworthy without a central authority.

A high-speed, always-on connection to the internet, delivered by technologies such as fibre, cable, mobile networks, or satellite, each with different speeds, costs, and reach.