An in-depth history of Large Language Models—and what their ubiquity, disruption, and creativity mean from a wider sociopolitical perspective.

In November 2022, ChatGPT swept the globe with a mixed frenzy of excitement and anxiety. Was this a step closer to reaching singularity or just another marvel in machine learning? Author Stephan Raaijmakers provides a comprehensive introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs), describing what exactly they are capable of from a technical and creative standpoint. This concise volume covers everything from the architecture of LLM neural networks to the limitations of LLMs to how our governments can regulate this technology. In explaining how exactly LLMs learn from data sets, Raaijmakers defangs the more sensational arguments we may be familiar with. Instead, he offers a more grounded approach to how this groundbreaking—and increasingly ubiquitous—form of artificial intelligence will shape our society for years to come.

Series Overview: The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers accessible, concise, beautifully produced books on topics of current interest. Written by leading thinkers, the books in this series deliver expert overviews of subjects that range from the cultural and the historical to the scientific and the technical. In today’s era of instant information gratification, we have ready access to opinions, rationalizations, and superficial descriptions. Much harder to come by is the foundational knowledge that informs a principled understanding of the world. Essential Knowledge books fill that need. Synthesizing specialized subject matter for nonspecialists and engaging critical topics through fundamentals, each of these compact volumes offers readers a point of access to complex ideas.
 
Contributor Bio(s)
 
Stephan Raaijmakers is Senior Scientist at TNO and Professor of Communicative AI at Leiden University (LUCL).


Author Residence: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Author Hometown: Amsterdam, The Netherlands