Dataset
Data/dictionary/dataset
Definition
The collection of examples a model learns from during training. The shape, size, quality, and bias of the dataset determines almost everything about the resulting model.
Posts that use this term
- Fine-tuning a model locally
When fine-tuning is the right answer (rarely) and how to do it on consumer hardware: LoRA, QLoRA, MLX-LM, Unsloth. A worked example fine-tuning Llama 3.2 3B on a 16GB Mac.
- Local RAG and embeddings
A complete local RAG pipeline in 30 lines: nomic-embed-text for embeddings, Chroma for the vector DB, Llama 3.2 for the chat model. Why local RAG often beats cloud RAG for personal knowledge bases.
- Picking a local model by task
The 2026 open leaders by task: coding (Qwen 2.5 Coder, DeepSeek-Coder), chat (Llama, Qwen, Mistral), small-model renaissance (Phi-3, Gemma 2), structured output, multimodal, embeddings.
- Quantization, distillation, pruning: making models fit
Three ways to shrink an LLM. Quantization (Q2-Q8 with K-quants in GGUF), distillation (teacher to student), pruning. Why Q4_K_M is the community default and what each lever costs.
- The context window, and why models hallucinate
An LLM only sees a fixed-size slice of text at a time. When it doesn't know something, it predicts anyway — that's a hallucination, not a bug.
- How a model learns: training and inference
Training is the expensive one-time event where a model's numbers get tuned. Inference is the cheap repeated use afterwards. The gap in cost is enormous, and it shapes the whole industry.
- What makes a model: data and algorithm
A model is a file of learned numbers, produced by running an algorithm over data. Both ingredients matter, but bad data beats a good algorithm every time.
- Inside AI: machine learning and deep learning
Open the AI umbrella. Machine learning is the part that learns from data. Deep learning is ML done with neural networks — and that's where today's models live.