Large Language Model

What it is

A Large Language Model (LLM) is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate human language. "Large" refers to both the training data (often trillions of words) and the model size (billions of parameters). Examples include GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and Llama.

Why it matters

LLMs are the technology powering conversational AI assistants. They can write, summarise, translate, answer questions, and reason through problems. Understanding that they're prediction machines—trained to predict what text should come next—helps explain both their capabilities and limitations.