The MERL Tech Initiative is once again offering our course on Small Language Models (SLMs). Join us in September for a hands-on workshop led by experts Cathy Richards and Jonas Norén.

Who is this course for?

Large, resource-intensive, general-purpose AI models are causing harm to the environment, the climate, and communities around the globe. Small language models, built in purposeful and controlled ways and managed with thoughtful design, are now a viable alternative. Requiring fewer computational resources, they can lead to faster processing, increased possibilities on smaller devices, more privacy and security, and they can be tailored to you and your tasks! Several potent small models are readily available for many tasks, and they are getting more powerful with time.

This course is for professionals in social impact, international development, and humanitarian work who want to explore using SLMs in their work. In Introduction to SLMs, participants will gain an understanding of how they’re made, understand the benefits, discover how the concept of “open” manifests within SLMs, and leave with a working installation of an SLM to use in their day-to-day work. In Diving Deeper, participants will learn how to develop systems.