Ray tracing = initiate rays from light sources, bounce them around, accumulate them on camera. This is accurate but incredibly inefficient. This is how pre-baked light mapping and GI works.
Path tracing = initiate rays from camera, induce bounce rays toward light sources. Not quite as accurate but orders of magnitude mode efficient in terms of producing an acceptable image.
This is confusing and not true. The RTX is specifically referred to as "ray tracing" but no one does forward ray tracing which is what you are referring to. Both general Ray Tracing and Path Tracing involve "backwards ray tracing", starting from the camera. The distinction is not where the ray originates, its the algorithm for generating and following those rays.
Ray tracing = initiate rays from light sources, bounce them around, accumulate them on camera. This is accurate but incredibly inefficient. This is how pre-baked light mapping and GI works.
Path tracing = initiate rays from camera, induce bounce rays toward light sources. Not quite as accurate but orders of magnitude mode efficient in terms of producing an acceptable image.