AI
How Small Models Stay Smart
•January 15, 2026
Original Description
Day 25/42: What Is Distillation?
Yesterday, we met SLMs.
Today, we explain how they get smart.
Distillation is teaching a small model using a big one.
The student doesn’t just copy answers.
It copies judgment.
This is how we make fast, cheap models that still perform well.
Efficiency, not magic.
Missed Day 24? Watch it first.
Tomorrow, we expand inputs: multimodality.
I’m Louis-François, PhD dropout, now CTO & co-founder at Towards AI. Follow me for tomorrow’s no-BS AI roundup 🚀
#Distillation #LLM #AIExplained #short
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