Foundation model
Large-scale, broad-data, many tasks. Characterized by emergence, adaptation and homogenization. Necessary but not an agent.
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The foundation model is a large-scale AI model trained on a broad range of data that can accommodate a wide range of tasks. Foundation models are characterized by three properties. Emergence of capabilities the model was not explicitly trained for. Adaptation to diverse tasks through fine-tuning, prompting and context engineering. And homogenization, meaning that since the base remains the same, a defect propagates to every application built on top of it. Agents do not exist without foundation models, but the foundation model alone is not an agent.