SLMs Course | Small is Beautiful: Find Out What SLMs Can Do For You
Small language models (SLMs), built in purposeful and controlled ways and managed with thoughtful design, are a viable alternative to large, resource-intensive, general-purpose AI models that are causing harm to the environment, the climate, and communities.
Taking place virtually in September 2026, the MERL Tech Initiative is once again offering a course on Small Language Models (SLMs). The course is for professionals across the social impact sector who want to explore using SLMs in their work. If you are interested in reducing the environmental footprint of your AI use, want to use and work with language models when not connected to the internet, and care about privacy, this course may be for you.
Course sessions are held via Zoom, with breaks, discussion time, and guided hands-on practice. For this course, MTI is offering two different packages: “Introduction to SLMs” (with two online modules) and “Diving Deeper into SLMs” (which adds a third, more advanced module).