AI glossary cheat sheet: the 30 terms you meet most

Topic cheat sheetOne page · US letterChatGPT n8n Lovable

By Robert Breen · Published October 1, 2026 · From the free lesson Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

A free one-page cheat sheet of 30 AI and automation terms in plain English: models, prompts, n8n workflows, apps and data.

Download the free PDF (61 KB)

Free, no sign-up and no email needed. It prints on one letter-size page; the whole sheet is below.

▶StepthroughFree printable cheat sheet · learn.ynteractive.com

AI glossary cheat sheet: the 30 terms you meet most

Thirty AI and automation words from the free lessons, each in one line from the Stepthrough glossary.

AI basics

Generative AI: Creates new text, images or audio from a prompt.
Large language model (LLM): The AI that reads and writes text behind ChatGPT.
AI model: The trained engine an AI tool runs on.
Token: A small chunk of text; API usage is counted in tokens.
Context window: How much text a model can consider at once.
Hallucination: A confident answer that is false or unsupported.
Knowledge cutoff: The date a model's training data ends.
Training data: The text, images or examples a model learned from.

Prompting

Prompt: Your request plus the facts or files to use.
Role, Context, Task, Format: Who writes, the facts, the job, the answer's shape.
Prompt template: A proven prompt with blanks for details that change.
Few-shot prompting: Give a few examples so AI copies the pattern.
Output format: The answer's length, order, layout and sections.
Prompt constraints: Rules like word limits and "don't invent details."
Iterative prompting: Improve an answer with specific follow-ups.
Grounding: Tie the answer to facts you provide or a trusted source.

Automation and n8n

Automation: Software does a repeatable task on its own.
Workflow: A saved chain of steps, from trigger to result.
Trigger: The event that starts a workflow, like a form.
Node: One step in an n8n workflow, like sending an email.
Webhook: A URL that waits for data, then starts a workflow.
AI agent: Decides what to do and uses tools to do it.
Tool calling: The model asks software to act, like adding a row.
Human in the loop: A person reviews or approves AI work before it takes effect.

Apps and data

API: Lets one app ask another for data or tell it to act.
API key: A secret code letting software use your account.
JSON: The plain-text format apps use to send structured data.
Google Sheets: Used as a database: tabs as tables, row 1 as field names.
Lovable: An AI app builder: plain English in, web app out.
PII: Details that can identify a person. Leave out what the task doesn't need.

Remember: If an AI answer sounds sure but you can't trace it to your facts, check it.

Practice it free: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format at learn.ynteractive.com/modules/prompt-writing-101. This sheet: learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/ai-glossary-top-30. Businesses in the lesson examples are made up. By Robert Breen, October 1, 2026.

Practice it in the free lesson

Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format. Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Or read the full step-by-step guide

Lessons on this sheet

Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer.

Free · Live ~8 min

n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets

Build an AI agent for BrightPath Marketing that generates social media post ideas and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model…

Free · Live ~12 min

Lovable + n8n: Build a Web App with an AI Backend

Build a contact form in Lovable and connect it to an n8n workflow — webhook trigger, AI Agent, Google Sheets, Gmail, and a Respond node that ties it all together.

Free · Live ~15 min

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

Generative AI Large language model (LLM)Hallucination Prompt Role, Context, Task, Format Workflow AI agent Human in the loop

The full AI glossary

Buyer inquiry reply prompt: Reply to a buyer's listing inquiry from your facts sheet: fees, rules and showing times, with sources instead of opinions on…
Discovery call prep prompt: Prep for a discovery call with a ChatGPT prompt that separates what you know from what you're assuming, then gives open…
Email subject lines prompt: Get ten honest subject lines for a finished email, each with preview text and a character count, grouped by approach so you can…
Listing description prompt: Write listing remarks and a social caption from your verified property facts, describing the home and never who should live…

All free prompt templates