Pre-training and fine-tuning are two crucial steps in the development of machine learning models, especially in the context of natural language processing. Pre-training: Objective: Pre-training involves training a model on a large corpus of data to learn general patterns, linguistic structures, and representations. For instance, models like BERT are pre-trained on a vast dataset without specific task goals, allowing them to learn the nuances of language. Outcome: At this stage, the model becomes a generalized base model that can understand language but has not been tailored for any particular task. Fine-tuning: Objective: Fine-tuning takes this pre-trained model and trains it further on a smaller, task-specific dataset. This phase adjusts the model’s parameters so that it performs well on a particular task, such as sentiment analysis or question answering. Outcome: The fine-tuned model is optimized for specific tasks and can provide more accurate and relevant predictions based on th...