As the “next big thing” emerges, it isn’t unusual for buzz to outpace understanding at first. Artificial intelligence continues to cement itself in the technological lexicon, but defining what exactly it is and how it can be used can be hard to pin down. Answers vary depending on who you ask.

“It’s certainly a messy term,” says Stefan Weitz, chief product and strategy officer for Radial Inc. “I think of it as a measurement of how a system can achieve its goals in a dynamic setting. An AI system should be able to use its ‘intelligence’ to achieve a specific end game despite not being programmed for every obstacle it may encounter. Then it uses that knowledge gained to adapt for future interactions.”

“You’re trying to help people understand something they can’t understand by themselves,” says Jonathan Cherki, CEO of technology vendor ContentSquare. “AI is not machine-centered, it is an element of the machine, and it is using information gathered from human behavior,” he says.