Small Language Model (SLM)
A smaller, often specialised model that runs locally and trades general capability for cost, latency, and control.
What is Small Language Model (SLM)?
Small language models are how enterprises make high-volume internal AI economically viable: many routine tasks (classification, extraction, summarization) do not need a frontier model. See Small Language Models in Enterprise AI.
Why it matters for on-premise & regulated AI
SLMs are the workhorses of on-premise AI economics: a 3–14B parameter model on a single GPU handles classification, extraction, summarisation, and routine agent steps at a fraction of frontier-model cost. The pattern that works is routing — SLMs for the 80% of tasks they handle well, larger models only where quality measurably demands it. On modest on-prem hardware, that pattern is what makes the TCO math close.
Putting Small Language Model (SLM) to work?
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