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What does Token mean in AI?

In AI, a token is the fundamental unit of data that represents input or output processed by language models. It's essentially how text is broken down into manageable chunks for the AI system to understand and manipulate.

Tokenization splits text into these units, which can represent words ("cat"), subwords ("un", "break", "able"), characters, or punctuation. The method used (e.g., word-based, Byte Pair Encoding - BPE) impacts vocabulary size and efficiency. Each token is assigned a numerical ID during this encoding step for processing by neural networks.

Tokens enable core AI functionality. Models predict subsequent tokens to generate text, translate languages, or answer questions. The length of input/output is measured in tokens, and understanding the relationship between tokens is crucial for context. Efficient tokenization allows models to handle complex language structures and diverse vocabulary economically.

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