Science and Practice of Language Models: An Industry Perspective

In this paper, we provide an overview of language models - their underlying mechanisms, capabilities, development within the industry, and the challenges they present. The launch of ChatGPT by, at the time relatively unknown company, OpenAI in late 2022 marked a turning point, achieving unprecedented success and, in the eyes of many, heralding the dawn of the artificial intelligence (AI) era. This breakthrough set off an intense race among the world's leading technology companies to develop increasingly sophisticated AI-driven products. Meanwhile, advancements in language models and other AI technologies continue at a rapid pace, with new and improved systems emerging daily. In this article, we explore the essence of language models, their applications, and their current state of development.