The text discusses the potential and criticisms of large language models in Natural Language Processing (NLP). It highlights that these models can generate high-quality synthetic text but also carry risks such as systemic societal biases and environmental costs. Gretel, a company involved in NLP research, is looking to use these models responsibly while acknowledging the ethical challenges they present. The text mentions various pre-trained language models available and raises questions about how to evaluate synthetic text quality and whether the benefits of large language models outweigh their drawbacks.