Gdoc/Admin
Daily Data InsightsLanguage-based AI systems have grown rapidly in recent years

Language-based AI systems have grown rapidly in recent years

The rapid growth of language-based AI systems

In recent years, there has been a notable shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) systems focused on language. They have outpaced advancements in other sectors like image recognition, gaming, and biology.

This is shown in the chart, which shows the number of AI systems considered notable by Epoch researchers.

The shift is primarily due to technical advancements in AI algorithms, particularly the introduction of “transformers” around 2017. As shown in the chart, the rapid development of language-based AI systems began around this time.

Transformers have radically changed natural language processing by evaluating chunks of text — “tokens” — instead of focusing on one word at a time. For example, by considering the whole sentence "The bank can ensure your money is safe", transformers can quickly discern that "bank" refers to a financial institution, not the side of a river.

This capability has significantly enhanced AI's ability in complex language tasks, improving machine translation and text generation, and making interactions more intuitive and effective.

Explore this data

Our latest Daily Data Insights

See all Daily Data Insights

Get Daily Data Insights delivered to your inbox

Receive an email from us when we publish a Daily Data Insight (every weekday).

By subscribing you are agreeing to the terms of our privacy policy.