# Speculative Decoding: Faster AI Text Generation

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Language: en
Published: 2026-09-18
Updated: 2026-09-19
Category: builder-brief
Description: Speculative decoding accelerates text generation by using a faster model to propose tokens that a slower target model verifies, maintaining accuracy without changing output distribution.
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## What happened
Speculative decoding is a technique where a fast draft model proposes multiple token candidates for text generation. These proposals are then verified in parallel by a slower but more accurate target model, ensuring the final output remains faithful to the original distribution.

## Why it matters
This method significantly speeds up autoregressive text generation without compromising quality or altering the intended output distribution. It is crucial for understanding how AI systems can achieve faster performance while maintaining accuracy and reliability.

## For builders
Speculative decoding involves a series of steps: drafting candidate tokens, scoring them with the target model, accepting valid prefixes, resampling where necessary, and repeating from accepted states. Each step must be carefully managed to ensure efficiency and correctness.

## Try this
Read the source before changing your text generation stack.

## Source
[Read original source](https://www.unite.ai/what-is-speculative-decoding-how-ai-generates-text-faster/)