Latency
How long an AI system takes to begin or finish a response, tool call, or workflow.
Plain English
It is the wait time users feel.
Example
A reasoning model may produce a better answer but take longer before the first streamed token appears.
Why it matters
AI product design constantly trades latency against quality, cost, safety checks, and reasoning depth.
Mentioned in
Fable 5, Export Controls, and GLM 5.2Jul 16, 2026