Large Language Models are the engines that power AI tools like ChatGPT, Bing and Bard. They are deeply weird, often frustrating and undeniably fascinating pieces of technology. This talk will attempt to summarize everything I've learned about them over the past year: how they are built, what they can do, what they can't do and how we can best tame them and use them to solve interesting problems. LLMs don't have to be large: I'll talk through the latest developments in openly licensed models you can run on your own devices, including on your phone and even in your web browser. I'll also discuss their as-yet unconquered security flaws, and the bewildering ethical implications of how they are trained and what they can damage.
Speakers: Simon Willison