language model

noun

plural language models

: a mathematical model (see model entry 1 sense 3) that analyzes a corpus of text in order to accurately represent the relationships between words

We have tremendous freedom to put words in any order we like. The computer has to have some kind of handle, a language model. It has to figure how likely any particular word is to pop up at any time.

—Robert Mercer, quoted in Chicago Tribune

also : software that uses a language model to generate text (such as responses to queries or prompts)

For example, given the task of analyzing the sentiment of the sentence 'I missed the bus today,' researchers could continue with the prompt 'I felt so [blank]' and ask a language model to fill in the blank with an emotion.

—Kyle Wiggers

see also large language model

Examples of language model in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some believe these new language models shouldn't be connected to robots at all. —David Berreby, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2024

Fewer still expected language models to be able to compose music or solve scientific problems, as some now can. —Ian Bremmer, Foreign Affairs, 16 Aug. 2023

The amount of text data fed into AI language models has been growing about 2.5 times per year, while computing has grown about 4 times per year, according to the Epoch study. —Matt O'Brien, The Denver Post, 6 June 2024

Using chain-of-thought prompting, which helps language models carry out complex reasoning tasks by breaking them down into smaller steps, these models are 60.4% accurate. —Peter Green, Quartz, 2 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above