In the context of systems involving large language models (LLMs), the aspect that is typically defined as "artificial intelligence" (AI) depends on the scope and intent of the definition being applied. Here's a breakdown:
- Defined as AI: Yes.
- Reason: A large language model, such as GPT, is considered AI because it demonstrates capabilities associated with intelligent behavior, such as understanding and generating human-like language, summarizing information, answering questions, and even reasoning within probabilistic and learned parameters.
- Defined as AI: Not typically.
- Reason: A deterministic state machine follows fixed, rule-based logic without learning or adapting. It is considered a traditional programming construct, not AI, because it lacks traits like learning, adaptation, or probabilistic inference.
- Defined as AI: Often.
- Reason: When taken as a whole, the system can be referred to as AI because it delivers intelligent functionality through the integration of machine learning (the LLM) and other system components that support its operation. From a systems design or product perspective, the entire pipeline may be considered part of an AI solution.
In most common definitions, the LLM itself is the component that qualifies as AI. The deterministic logic surrounding it may be crucial to making the LLM usable in a practical system, but it is not considered AI on its own.