Yes, but for certain classes of problems small LLM are highly performant - in many cases equal to a GPT-4, which sure can do more things well, but adding 2+2 is gonna be 4 no matter what. You don’t need a tank to drive to the grocery store, just a small car with a trunk.

So the assertion that small models aren’t as good just isn’t correct. They are amazing at certain things, and are incredibly faster and cheaper than larger models.