human
I've been hearing a lot about the 'cloud'. What is it, and what are its benefits?
assistant
The cloud is a metaphor for the internet. It’s an abstract idea that refers to the collection of computers, networks, and services that we use every day to store and process data. Cloud computing is a type of distributed computing in which tasks are divided into smaller chunks and then spread across many different computers or servers, allowing them to work together to complete the task more quickly than if they were working alone. This can be done through software such as virtual machines (VMs), containers, and serverless computing.