What is Parameter?
Parameters are the adjustable dials inside an AI model that get tuned during training; together they decide what the model 'knows'.
A model is made of billions of small numbers, the parameters. During training those numbers are nudged bit by bit until the model performs well. When you hear a model has '70 billion parameters', that is a rough measure of how big it is. Bigger is not always better.
You do not have to do anything with this yourself. It just helps you decode the marketing when companies show off their model size.
Put precisely
Parameters say something about a model's size, not its quality. A smaller model tuned to one task can beat a bigger one.
Common misconception
That the number of parameters is how much knowledge it has. It is the number of adjustable numbers, not a number of facts.
Related words
Understand AI, calmly
This word is a start. The inklaretaal Learning curve explains AI step by step in plain language, tuned to your field. The first month is free.