generative AI

noun

variants or less commonly generative artificial intelligence

: artificial intelligence (see artificial intelligence sense 2) that is capable of generating new content (such as images or text) in response to a submitted prompt (such as a query) by learning from a large reference database of examples

Generative AI is a computer tool that can create text that sounds like it was written by a human, based on a given starting point.

—Stephanie Sylvestre

In a departure from previous efforts, Therabot is powered by generative artificial intelligence, meaning it can use existing data and documentation to develop original actions and responses. Another example of generative AI is DALL-E 2, the popular program that can create images from user prompts.

—Sarah Sloat

Publishers hire armies of journalists to produce content. … These publishers will soon leverage generative AI to instantly create thousands of SEO-optimized articles …

—Lloyd Danzig

Examples of generative AI in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

OpenAI has since emerged as a giant in generative AI, launching ChatGPT in 2022 and setting off a wave of investment in new tools and infrastructure for next-generation AI products and services. —Ari Levy,lora Kolodny, CNBC, 10 Feb. 2025

Gemini, too, plainly stated generative AI's energy challenges. —Ina Fried, Axios, 7 Feb. 2025

The emergence of generative AI has complicated the picture — software vendors must balance investing in expensive new capabilities without hurting their profitability. —Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2025

Creatives are more uncomfortable with generative AI, which is based on tools that create data sets by analyzing existing works. —Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2012, in the meaning defined above