Models
Quantization
Rounding a model's numbers to make it smaller and faster.
Models store their knowledge as huge lists of precise numbers, and quantization trims those numbers down to simpler, rougher versions. Like compressing a photo, this makes the model much smaller and quicker to run while keeping most of its quality. It is a key trick for fitting powerful AI onto ordinary hardware.
For example
Quantization can shrink a model enough to run on a phone instead of a data center.
Related
Reasoning modelAn AI that pauses to think through a problem step by step before answering.Mixture of expertsA big model split into specialists, only a few of which handle each question.Open weights vs closedWhether a model's inner settings are shared publicly or kept private.DistillationTraining a small, cheap model to imitate a big, expensive one.