If you read the earlier post about SLMs (small language models), you might be wondering how SLMs compare to LLMs (large language models).
Well good. Because that’s what this post is about.
To start with, SLMs are smaller. “Smaller how?” you ask. I’m getting there.
SLMs have fewer parameters than LLMs (LLMs have billions to trillions, and SLMs have millions to hundreds of millions). You can think of a parameter as a digital LEGO block that combines with all the other digital LEGO blocks to create the language model’s knowledge.
- If you want a more textbook definition - Parameters in AI are internal variables that machine learning models learn during training to make predictions or decisions. They include weights and biases that help the model adjust its outputs based on the input data, ultimately influencing the model's performance and accuracy.
Here are some other comparisons between SLMs and LLMs -
- Performance -
- LLMs deliver superior performance on complicated tasks that can include multiple steps, logic, reasoning, creative writing, etc.
- SLM can have similar performance to LLMs in smaller domain-specific tasks, but fall behind on complex tasks or even simple tasks from a different domain than what they were designed to support.
- Cost -
- LLMs are expensive to train, deploy, and maintain - the largest LLMs cost at least $10’s of billions of dollars per year to run (I said “at least”).
- SLMs are more affordable and more realistic for smaller businesses or individuals.
- Computing Resources -
- LLMs demand massive amounts of computing power (memory, GPUs, TPUs, etc.).
- By the way, a TPU is a special piece of hardware that Google developed just to run AI/ML workloads because they take THAT much power.
- SLMs require less computing resources. This makes them faster to train, deploy, and maintain. It also allows them to be run on smaller or older devices.
- LLMs demand massive amounts of computing power (memory, GPUs, TPUs, etc.).
- Environmental Impact -
- LLMs have a much larger carbon footprint because of their massive resource needs.
- SLMs consume less energy and are generally more environmentally friendly.
There are a lot more ways that SLMs and LLMs can be compared, but I think that is a good place to stop.
If you haven’t looked at SLMs, then you might save yourself a lot of time and money if you can make them work for your organization.
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