Microsoft Phi-3 — The Rise of Small Language Models (SLM)

Ritesh Kanjee
3 min readApr 24, 2024

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Microsoft’s latest open-source AI model, I must say is quite amazing! The company’s new Phi-3 family of small language models (SLMs) is set to revolutionize the way we interact with machines. Their goal is to mimic how kids comprehend through simple language such as through children’s bedtime stories — as novel as that sounds.

Microsoft Phi-3

The Phi-3 Family

The Phi-3 family consists of three models: Phi-3 Mini, Phi-3 Small, and Phi-3 Medium. The Phi-3 Mini model boasts 3.8 billion parameters, while the Phi-3 Small and Phi-3 Medium models have 7 billion and 14 billion parameters, respectively.

Performance Metrics

The Phi-3 Mini model has been tested on an iPhone 14 with an A16 Bionic chip, and the results are impressive. The model achieved overall performance that rivals larger models such as Mixtral 8x7B and GPT-3.5.

Phi-3 Benchmarks

Training Data

The Phi-3 models were trained on a mix of heavily filtered web data and synthetic data. This unique approach has resulted in models that are not only smaller but also more efficient.

Key Features

  • Quantization: Phi-3 models can be quantized to 4 bits, making them suitable for deployment on mobile devices.
  • Lightweight: Phi-3 models occupy less memory, making them ideal for use on devices with limited resources.
  • High-Performance: Phi-3 models have achieved state-of-the-art performance on various benchmarks.

The Future of AI

The rise of small language models like Phi-3 marks a significant shift in the AI landscape. These models are more accessible, cost-effective, and easier to integrate into enterprise legacy workflows. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see widespread adoption of SLMs across various industries.

Phi3 satya Nadela

What’s Next?

While Microsoft has not revealed when the Phi-3 models will be released to the broader public, the company’s commitment to developing smaller, more efficient AI models is clear. As the technology advances, we can expect to see more innovative applications of SLMs in the future.

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Ritesh Kanjee

We help you master AI so it does not master you! Director of Augmented AI