AI Glossary

What is generative AI?

Generative AI is software that produces new content — text, images, code or summaries — from a plain-language prompt, and it's the category our hands-on AI training is built around.

In short

Generative AI can draft, summarise and code in seconds, but it predicts plausible text rather than checking facts — so the value comes from a team that knows how to prompt it well and when to verify, which is exactly what our workshops build.

The basics

What it actually means

Generative AI is software that creates new content in response to an instruction you type in plain English. Ask it to draft an email, summarise a long document, write a formula or suggest images, and it produces something in seconds. The best-known tools — ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Claude — are all generative AI, and they're the category most workplace training focuses on because they're what your team will actually open each day.

Under the bonnet, these tools are large language models trained on huge amounts of text and other data. They work by predicting the most likely next word, pixel or line of code based on patterns they've learned. That's why the quality of what you get back depends so heavily on the quality of the prompt you put in — a skill that can be taught and practised.

What it can and can't do

Fast and fluent, but not always right

Used well, generative AI is genuinely powerful: it can draft and rewrite, summarise dense material, translate, explain code and turn a rough idea into a usable first version. It is fast, tireless and surprisingly good at the everyday writing and admin that eats into a working week.

What it can't do is guarantee accuracy. Because it predicts plausible-sounding text rather than verifying facts, it can state wrong information confidently — a problem widely known as hallucination. It also reflects bias in its training data and shouldn't be trusted with confidential information without clear rules. Knowing where to lean on it and where to check its work is the difference between a useful tool and a costly mistake.

6%

of organisations are seeing real returns from AI despite most now using it — proof that capability, not the tool, is the bottleneck. (McKinsey, The State of AI, 2025)

How we help

How we turn generative AI into reliable capability

Knowing what generative AI is doesn't make a team good at using it. If your team is already dabbling with ChatGPT or Copilot, you'll probably recognise the symptoms: people pasting in prompts that only half-work, no shared sense of what's safe to put into a chatbot, and outputs taken at face value when they should have been checked.

That's exactly what our workshops fix — structured, hands-on practice with the generative AI tools your team already has, on the work they already do:

Prompt it properly

We teach your team how to ask for what they actually want — clear instructions, context and examples — so the tools produce usable results the first time instead of vague, generic text that needs rewriting.

Know what to trust

We train your team to spot where generative AI is strong and where it makes things up, so they verify the right outputs, keep confidential data out of public tools, and use it with confidence rather than blind faith.

Built on your real work

Sessions use your team's own documents, emails and tasks, so the skills land on day-to-day work — not generic demos — and stick once the workshop ends. Each attendee gets a certificate, and the sessions count toward CPD.

How it compares

Self-taught vs trained use of generative AI

Self-taughtReadyToday training
PromptingCopied prompts that half-workClear, repeatable technique
AccuracyOutputs taken at face valueKnows what to verify
Data safetyNo shared rulesClear do's and don'ts
ExamplesGeneric demosYour team's real work

FAQ

Common questions

Is generative AI the same as ChatGPT?
Not quite. Generative AI is the broad category of tools that create new content from a prompt. ChatGPT is one example of it, alongside Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Claude. Our training works across whichever tools your team already uses.
What can generative AI actually be used for at work?
Common, low-risk uses include drafting and rewriting emails and documents, summarising long material, writing or explaining code, and turning rough notes into a first draft. The key is knowing where it's reliable and where its output needs checking — which is what we teach.
Why does generative AI sometimes get things wrong?
These tools predict plausible-sounding text from patterns rather than checking facts, so they can state wrong information confidently — known as hallucination. That's why we train teams to verify the outputs that matter and never to treat it as a source of truth on its own.
Do you train on a specific generative AI tool?
We train on the tools your team already has — ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini or Claude — because the skill that transfers is good prompting and sound judgement, not memorising one product's buttons.

Keep exploring

Related terms

Turn generative AI into a skill your team actually has

Our hands-on workshops take your team from self-taught dabbling to confident, consistent use of the AI tools they already have — built on your real work.