Article

What is a large language model (LLM)?

Cloudflare Learning Center

Summary

A clear beginner explainer for understanding what large language models are, how they are trained, what they can do, and where their limits are. The value is that it gives non-specialist readers a plain foundation for later topics such as ChatGPT, AI agents, RAG, hallucinations, and AI security without assuming they already understand machine learning or transformer models.

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PublicationCloudflare Learning Center
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Key Takeaways

  • An LLM is trained on very large amounts of text or other data so it can recognise patterns and generate human-like language.
  • LLMs are useful because they can respond to natural, messy, unpredictable prompts rather than only fixed commands.
  • Their outputs are not automatically reliable: they can reflect bad training data, hallucinate, be manipulated, or expose confidential information if users treat them like secure vaults.