Introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs)

1. Introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs)

Large Language Models (LLMs) represent a recent and significant advancement in the field of

artificial intelligence. Defined by Wikipedia as a type of language model, LLMs are characterized by

their extensive neural networks with an enormous number of parameters, often reaching into the

billions. They are primarily trained using unsupervised machine learning techniques on vast

corpuses of unlabeled text data.

2. The Birth of LLMs with BERT

The foundational milestone in the LLMs era began with the introduction of the BERT model

(Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) in 2018. This model marked a

revolutionary step in natural language processing (NLP) by efficiently improving how machines

understand and process human language. BERT's innovative approach laid the groundwork for

further advancements in the LLM field.

3. The Evolution and Popularization of LLMs

Following BERT's success, the field saw rapid development with the introduction of models such as

GPT-1, GPT-2, and GPT-3. These models expanded upon BERT's foundation, offering increasingly

sophisticated language understanding capabilities. The end of 2022 witnessed a significant leap in

the popularization of LLMs, especially with the launch of ChatGPT. ChatGPT's public release

marked a turning point, bringing the power and potential of LLMs to a broader audience.