AI Governance Engineer
GitHub

Small language model (SLM)

By Updated

A language model small enough to run close to the user, for example on a phone 1. Its controls must ship with it: guardrails on the device, a version inventory across the fleet and a kill switch delivered as a remote flag or app update.

Developed in
ch. 11, LLMs and SLMs
Chapters
ch. 11, AI Defined
Contrast with
Large language model (LLM)
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

One chapter of the Body of Knowledge uses the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Small language model (SLM): mentions per chapter6 mentions of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter11 AI Defined: 6 mentions11 AI Defined6No mentions in the other 22 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Small language model (SLM): mentions per chapter6 mentions of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter0001020304050607081011 AI Defined: 6 mentions611121314151617181920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Small language model (SLM) per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined6Yes
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No
Small language model (SLM): related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastSmall language model (SLM)Related terms (2)Guardrail · RelatedGuardrailKill switch · RelatedKill switchContrast with (1)Large language model (LLM) · ContrastLarge language model (LLM)
Small language model (SLM): related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRelated terms (2)Guardrail · RelatedGuardrailKill switch · RelatedKill switchContrast with (1)Large language model (LLM) · ContrastLarge language model (LLM)Small languagemodel (SLM)
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Small language model (SLM)
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsGuardrailRelated
Related termsKill switchRelated
Contrast withLarge language model (LLM)Contrast
  • Kill switch

    A tested mechanism to stop an agent or system from acting; a precondition of granting autonomy, registered against the agent's identity.

  • Guardrail

    A runtime control that inspects or mediates a model's or agent's inputs, outputs or tool calls and blocks, rewrites or escalates what breaks a policy, logging…

Sources

  1. [1] Phi-3 Technical Report: A Highly Capable Language Model Locally on Your Phone (3.8-billion-parameter model deployable on a phone; arXiv 2404.14219). Abdin et al. (Microsoft). 2024-04-22. https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.14219 (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Small language model (SLM). In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/small-language-model-slm. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026smalllanguagemodelslm,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Small language model (SLM)}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/small-language-model-slm}
}