Is It Generative AI or Not? How to Tell the Difference?

Generative AI (Gen AI) has become a buzzword, but sometimes it’s tricky to know what really qualifies as Gen AI and what doesn’t. Let’s break it down step by step so you’ll always know whether you’re looking at generative AI or traditional machine learning. The Key Question: What Is the Output? Not Gen AI if the output (Y) is: A number (e.g., predicted sales) A class (e.g., spam vs. not spam, cat vs. dog) A probability (e.g., 75% chance of rain) Yes, Gen AI if the output is: Text (e.g., an essay, a poem, or code) Speech or audio Images or video (like our friend Fred 🐶 from before) 👉 In short: Generative AI doesn’t just label—it creates . A Quick Math View If you remember high school math: y = f ( x ) y = f(x) x (input): Data (CSV files, text, audio, images, etc.) f (function): The model (the rules or process applied) y (output): The result If y is a number/class , that’s traditional ML . If y is natural language, audio, ...