Riding the Wave: Analyzing Past, Present, and Future Trends Shaped by LLMs and AI

Natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs) stand at the intersection of linguistics and artificial intelligence, serving as milestones in our understanding of human-computer interactions. Their story begins with basic rule-based systems, which, while innovative for their time, often stumbled due to the complex nuances and immensity of human language. The limitations of these systems highlighted the need for a shift, paving the way for the machine learning (ML) era, where data and pattern recognition prescribe the design and the models.

In this chapter, we will review key trends that have been emerging in NLP and LLMs, some of which are broad enough to capture the direction of AI as a whole. We will discuss those trends from a qualitative perspective as we aim to highlight their purpose, value, and impact. In the next sections, we’ll share our thoughts on what the future...