COMPEL Glossary / large-language-model-llm
Large Language Model (LLM)
A Large Language Model is a massive AI model -- typically based on the transformer architecture and containing billions to trillions of parameters -- trained on enormous amounts of text data to understand and generate human language.
What this means in practice
Examples include GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Llama. LLMs have reshaped enterprise AI strategy by enabling capabilities like document summarization, code generation, question answering, and conversational assistants. The 'large' refers to both the model size and the training data volume. For transformation leaders, LLMs represent a platform shift: a single foundation model can be adapted for dozens of tasks through prompting or fine-tuning. However, LLMs carry specific governance risks including hallucination (generating plausible but false information), data privacy concerns, and significant infrastructure costs that must be managed deliberately.
Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.