Temperature
Noun · AI & Machine Learning
Definitions
A parameter that controls the randomness of a language model's output. Low temperature (near 0) makes outputs deterministic and conservative; high temperature makes them creative and unpredictable. Named after the thermodynamic concept in statistical mechanics.
In plain English: A setting that controls how creative or predictable an AI's responses are — turn it down for factual answers, turn it up for creative writing.
Etymology
- 1980s
- Simulated annealing borrows 'temperature' from statistical mechanics — higher temperature means more random exploration
- 2019
- GPT-2 popularizes the temperature parameter for controlling randomness in text generation: 0 = deterministic, 1+ = creative
- 2023
- Temperature becomes a user-facing setting in AI chatbots, making this statistical concept accessible to everyday users