---
id: "prereq-llm-understanding"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["¶ 1", "§ The Everything Engine Needs Your Data"]
tags: ["ai-literacy"]
related: ["concept-large-action-models"]
reason: "Necessary to grasp the contrast between current generative AI (LLMs) and future task-executing AI (LAMs)."
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-foci-73-living-intelligence"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/01/why-living-intelligence-is-the-next-big-thing"
sourceTitle: "Why “Living Intelligence” Is the Next Big Thing"
---
# Understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs)

**Prerequisite:** An understanding of what a **Large Language Model (LLM)** is — how it functions (predicting the next word / generating content) and that most enterprises are currently focused on deploying them for data consolidation and automation.

**Why it's required:** Necessary to grasp the essay's central contrast between current *generative* AI (LLMs) and future *task-executing* AI ([[concept-large-action-models|LAMs]]). Without this baseline, the [[quote-llm-vs-lam|"say next" vs. "do next"]] distinction — and the warning in [[claim-ai-myopia]] — lose their force.