Fine-Tuning
Definition
Taking an existing AI model and training it further on a specific set of data so it becomes better at a particular task. Think of a general-purpose AI as a broadly educated graduate — fine-tuning is like sending them to a specialist course. A company might fine-tune a model on their own support tickets so it gives answers that match their products and tone.
Why It Matters
You'll see this term when companies talk about "custom AI." It's not magic — it's targeted additional training.
What does that look like in practice?
A law firm fine-tunes a model on its own past contracts so it drafts new ones in the firm's house style.
What people actually mean when they say this
When a company says 'we built our own AI,' they usually mean they fine-tuned an existing model on their data, not that they created one from nothing.
Last reviewed: March 2026
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