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What are “Large Language Models” (LLMs)?

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  • Created by John Ball
  • Adapted by 'Joba Adisa

Overview

In this lesson, students will learn about language models and why AI models like ChatGPT are called “Large Language Models” (LLMs). They will develop a fundamental knowledge of what makes an LLM “large” and how parameters are important to understanding an LLM’s capabilities, data needs, and power requirements.

  • About AI
  • 75 minutes
An image of popular large language models around the globe.

Digital Materials

Objectives

After this experience, students will be able to:

  • Define and differentiate between a language model and a large language model (LLM).
  • Explain what “parameters” mean in the context of LLMs and how they influence performance.
  • Describe how the size and complexity of LLMs relate to data and power requirements.
  • Describe the main trend in AI over the past decade.

Questions explored

  • What is a language model, and what makes a model “large”?
  • How does the number of parameters in an LLM impact its performance and capabilities?
  • How does the size of an LLM affect its data needs and power requirements?
  • How do newer AI models compare to older models?

Key Terms

Language Model
An algorithm that predicts text sequences, like words in a story.
Large Language Model (LLM)
A very big AI model that predicts many complicated sequences of text or code, using billions of data points. Some of these can produce text or code that looks more like what humans can do.