What are Generative AI models?

IBM Technology
22 Mar 202308:47

TLDRThe transcript discusses the rise of large language models (LLMs) and their role as foundation models in AI, highlighting their ability to perform various tasks through unsupervised training on vast unstructured data. It emphasizes the performance and productivity benefits of these models, while acknowledging challenges like high compute costs and trustworthiness issues due to potential biases in training data. IBM's efforts to enhance efficiency and trustworthiness in these models for business applications are also mentioned, along with their broader applications across different domains like vision, code, and climate science.

Takeaways

  • 🌟 Large language models (LLMs) like chatGPT have significantly impacted the world, demonstrating new capabilities in AI performance and enterprise value generation.
  • 🔍 LLMs are part of a category called 'foundation models,' a term originating from Stanford, indicating a paradigm shift in AI where a single model can drive multiple applications.
  • 📈 Foundation models are trained on vast unstructured data in an unsupervised manner, providing them with the ability to transfer learnings across various tasks.
  • 🔤 The generative capability of these models, predicting and generating the next word in a sentence, is central to their function and categorizes them under generative AI.
  • 🎯 By introducing labeled data, foundation models can be fine-tuned to perform traditional NLP tasks, such as classification and named-entity recognition.
  • 🚀 Even with limited labeled data, foundation models can perform well through prompting or prompt engineering, generating responses for tasks like sentiment analysis.
  • 🏆 The primary advantage of foundation models is their superior performance, outperforming smaller models trained on limited data due to their extensive data exposure.
  • ⚙️ A secondary advantage is increased productivity, as less label data is needed to achieve task-specific models compared to starting from scratch.
  • 💰 One of the main disadvantages is the high compute cost associated with training and running these large models, which can be a barrier for smaller enterprises.
  • 🔒 Trustworthiness issues arise from the models' training on vast unvetted data from the internet, potentially leading to biases, hate speech, and other toxic information.
  • 🌐 IBM is actively innovating to enhance the efficiency and trustworthiness of foundation models, applying them across various domains including language, vision, code, chemistry, and climate science.

Q & A

  • What are Large Language Models (LLMs)?

    -Large Language Models (LLMs) are a class of AI models capable of understanding and generating human-like text. They are trained on vast amounts of unstructured data, enabling them to perform a variety of language-related tasks, such as writing poetry or assisting in planning vacations.

  • What is the significance of the term 'foundation models' in AI?

    -Foundation models refer to a new paradigm in AI where a single, powerful model serves as a foundation to drive multiple applications and use cases. This concept was first introduced by a team from Stanford, who predicted a shift from task-specific AI models to more versatile, foundational models capable of transferring learnings across different tasks.

  • How do foundation models differ from traditional AI models?

    -Traditional AI models are trained on specific tasks with task-specific data, whereas foundation models are trained on large amounts of unstructured data in an unsupervised manner. This allows foundation models to be versatile and adaptable to various tasks, either through tuning with labeled data or via prompting.

  • What is the process of training a foundation model?

    -A foundation model is trained by feeding it terabytes of unstructured data, often in the form of sentences, where it learns to predict the next word based on the previous words it has seen. This generative capability forms the basis of the model's ability to transfer knowledge to different tasks.

  • How can foundation models be adapted to perform traditional NLP tasks?

    -Foundation models can be fine-tuned for specific NLP tasks by introducing a small amount of labeled data into the training process. This allows the model to update its parameters and perform tasks like classification or named-entity recognition that were traditionally not associated with generative models.

  • What is the advantage of using foundation models in terms of performance?

    -Foundation models have the advantage of performance due to their extensive training on terabytes of data. When applied to smaller tasks, they can significantly outperform models trained on limited data points, offering more accurate and efficient results.

  • What are the productivity gains of using foundation models?

    -The productivity gains of using foundation models come from the reduced need for labeled data. Through prompting or tuning, these models can achieve task-specific performance with far less data compared to starting from scratch, leveraging the knowledge gained during pre-training on unlabeled data.

  • What are the main disadvantages of foundation models?

    -The main disadvantages of foundation models include high compute costs due to the extensive data training and inference requirements, and issues with trustworthiness, as the models are trained on vast amounts of unstructured data that may contain biases, hate speech, or other toxic information.

  • How is IBM addressing the challenges associated with foundation models?

    -IBM is working on innovations to improve the efficiency and trustworthiness of foundation models. Their research efforts aim to make these models more cost-effective and reliable for business applications across various domains, including language, vision, code, chemistry, and climate change.

  • What are some examples of foundation models in domains other than language?

    -Examples of foundation models in other domains include DALL-E 2 for vision, which generates images from text descriptions, and Copilot for code, which assists in writing and completing code. IBM is also developing models for chemistry, like molformer, and Earth Science Foundation models for climate research.

  • How can businesses benefit from the use of foundation models?

    -Businesses can benefit from foundation models by leveraging their advanced capabilities to improve productivity, reduce the need for extensive labeled data, and achieve better performance in various tasks. By integrating these models into their operations, businesses can drive value through enhanced efficiency, innovation, and decision-making.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Introduction to Large Language Models and Foundation Models

This paragraph introduces the concept of Large Language Models (LLMs) and their impact on various fields, highlighting their versatility in performing tasks such as writing poetry or planning vacations. Kate Soule, a senior manager of business strategy at IBM Research, provides an overview of these models and their role in driving enterprise value. The discussion pivots to the term 'foundation models,' which were预见 as a new paradigm in AI, where a single model can handle multiple tasks previously performed by various specialized AI models. The key to this versatility lies in the unsupervised training on vast amounts of unstructured data, enabling the model to predict and generate the next word in a sentence, thus belonging to the field of generative AI. The paragraph also touches on the process of tuning these models with a small amount of labeled data to perform specific natural language tasks, and the concept of prompting or prompt engineering as an alternative in low-labeled data scenarios.

05:05

🚀 Advantages and Disadvantages of Foundation Models

This paragraph delves into the advantages of foundation models, emphasizing their superior performance due to extensive data exposure and the productivity gains from reduced labeling requirements. However, it also acknowledges the challenges, including high computational costs that make training and inference expensive, particularly for smaller enterprises. Trustworthiness is another concern, as the models' training on vast unvetted data from the internet can lead to biases and inclusion of toxic information. The paragraph then transitions to IBM's efforts to enhance the efficiency and trustworthiness of these models for better business application. It also mentions the application of foundation models beyond language, citing examples from vision and code domains, and explores IBM's innovations in areas like chemistry and climate change.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Large Language Models (LLMs)

Large Language Models, or LLMs, are a class of AI models capable of understanding and generating human-like text. They are trained on vast amounts of data, enabling them to perform a wide range of language-related tasks. In the video, LLMs like chatGPT are highlighted for their ability to drive enterprise value by assisting in tasks such as writing poetry or planning vacations, showcasing a step change in AI performance.

💡Foundation Models

Foundation models represent a new class of AI models that serve as a foundational capability for multiple applications and use cases. They are trained on unstructured data in an unsupervised manner, allowing them to transfer their learning to different tasks. The term was first coined by a team from Stanford, who predicted a paradigm shift in AI towards these models.

💡Generative AI

Generative AI refers to the branch of AI focused on creating or generating new content, such as text, images, or code. In the context of the video, foundation models are part of generative AI because they can predict and generate the next word in a sentence, thereby creating new textual content.

💡Tuning

Tuning is a process where a foundation model is fine-tuned with a small amount of labeled data to perform specific natural language tasks, such as classification or named-entity recognition. This allows the model to adapt to particular tasks without the need for extensive retraining on task-specific data.

💡Prompting

Prompting, or prompt engineering, is a technique used with foundation models where the model is given an input or prompt and then asked to generate an output that completes a specific task. For example, a model might be prompted with a sentence and asked to classify the sentiment as positive or negative.

💡Performance

In the context of AI and foundation models, performance refers to the ability of these models to deliver high-quality results when applied to various tasks. The video emphasizes that due to their extensive training on terabytes of data, foundation models can drastically outperform models trained on fewer data points.

💡Productivity Gains

Productivity gains refer to the efficiency improvements that come from using foundation models. These models require less labeled data to achieve task-specific models compared to starting from scratch, thus saving time and resources in development and training.

💡Compute Cost

Compute cost refers to the expenses associated with training and running AI models, particularly foundation models. These models are expensive to train due to the large amounts of data they process and require significant computational resources, such as multiple GPUs, for inference, making them costly for smaller enterprises.

💡Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness in the context of AI models pertains to the reliability and ethical aspects of their outputs. Foundation models, trained on vast unstructured data, may contain biases or toxic information, which raises trustworthiness issues as they might propagate these undesirable elements in their generated content.

💡IBM Research

IBM Research is the research division of IBM that focuses on scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations. In the video, it is mentioned that IBM Research is working on improving the efficiency and trustworthiness of foundation models to make them more suitable for business applications.

💡Watson Assistant

Watson Assistant is an AI-driven product from IBM that leverages language models to provide assistance in various forms, such as answering questions or facilitating tasks. It is an example of how IBM applies foundation models in practical business applications.

Highlights

Large language models (LLMs) have revolutionized AI performance and enterprise value.

LLMs are part of a new class of models called foundation models, which represent a paradigm shift in AI.

Foundation models are trained on vast amounts of unstructured data, enabling them to perform multiple tasks.

These models are trained in an unsupervised manner, predicting the next word in sentences.

Foundation models fall under the category of generative AI due to their ability to generate new content.

By introducing labeled data, foundation models can be fine-tuned for specific NLP tasks like classification and named-entity recognition.

Foundation models can work well even with low-labeled data through prompting or prompt engineering.

The main advantage of foundation models is their superior performance due to extensive data exposure.

These models offer significant productivity gains by reducing the need for extensive labeled data.

A downside is the high compute cost for training and running inference on foundation models.

There are trustworthiness issues due to the potential for bias and toxic information in the unstructured data these models are trained on.

IBM is innovating to improve the efficiency and trustworthiness of foundation models for business applications.

Foundation models are not limited to language; they're also applied in vision, coding, and other domains.

IBM has integrated foundation models into products like Watson Assistant, Watson Discovery, and Maximo Visual Inspection.

IBM is working on foundation models for chemistry, promoting molecule discovery and targeted therapeutics.

IBM is developing Earth Science Foundation models to enhance climate research using geospatial data.

IBM's research aims to make foundation models more efficient and trustworthy for a wider range of applications.