At its simplest, communication means being able to convey a sense of meaning to another person or group of people and for it to be understood. Good communication skills, therefore, cover a wide range of activities, from conveying visual meaning in the form of symbols to talking and using body language. In short, there is no single definition of what communication skills really are. In the main, however, people refer to communication skills to discuss how people relate and interact with one another in daily life. In most cases, this means talking, but all other forms of communication, including digital and written work, must also be taken into account. Remember that good communication skills do not merely rely on making yourself heard but on being able to listen to what is being communicated to you just as much. This is because communication is always a two-way street to some extent.
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Sometimes referred to as compassionate communication, non-violent communication is a system which aims to promote non-violence in all aspects of life, starting from the way we communicate with one another. The idea behind non-violent communication – or NVC, for short – is that it will promote higher levels of empathy and compassion among people who adopt it. Where violence occurs, its advocates argue, it is because imperfect communication has occurred where empathy and compassion have been missing. Therefore, by adopting NVC, people will be able to turn potentially confrontational situations into ones which can be remedied rather than escalating to conflict. At its heart is the call for more effective communication strategies which highlight shared needs and the need for greater social cohesion.
When computer programs and algorithms mimic the human ability to think, they are said to be using artificial intelligence. The 'intelligence' part of the phrase refers to the ability to build knowledge derived from acquired data. The 'artificial' part refers to the machine that is using that intelligence, usually a computer or, increasingly, a series of computers that can communicate with one another over the internet. The idea is that artificial intelligence will be able to replicate or at least offer something similar to human thought processes in the near future.
