What Is Generative AI and How Does It Work?

If you haven't heard of Generative AI yet, then this is what you need to know. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates things from thin air. This can include text, images, audio, even video or code, and it does this based on patterns it’s learned from chunks of data.

Instead of analysing or sorting existing info like traditional AI does, generative AI makes new content from scratch. Ask ChatGPT to write a bedtime story about a robot that runs a bakery? You’ll get something totally new. Ask DALL·E for a picture of a llama DJing at a rooftop party? Boom — fresh, original visuals.

It’s not copying and pasting from somewhere. It’s learned the patterns and structures of language or images or music — and it’s using that knowledge to guess what comes next. Word by word. Pixel by pixel. Beat by beat.

How the Technology Actually Works

Generative AI models are trained on massive amounts of data — we’re talking millions of articles, images, songs, video clips. During training, they learn how things usually go: how sentences flow, how objects look, how chords progress in a song.

Then, when you give it a prompt — say “write a product description in a cheeky tone” — the AI looks at everything it’s learned and tries to generate a new result that fits the vibe. Not a copy. Just… a really good guess based on patterns it’s seen before.