November 24, 2024

This week, I learned: OpenAI lets you download GPT instructions and execute arbitrary code in their containerized environment. This is not a bug. Ref BM25 works as follows: Ref For each query term in the query, sum up the product of: Inverse document frequency = LN(% of docs without the query term + 1) – with a small tweak Term frequency = freq / (freq + k) – where k is usually between 1.2 to 2. Returns 0-1 with diminishing frequency benefit k is multiplied by Document length normalization = 1 - b(1- DocLength/AvgDocLength). Longer documents have larger k, dampening frequency benefits. Some implications: The actual BM25 score has no meaning. It’s just useful for ordering BM25 scores for 2 queries can be compared ONLY IF the document sets don’t change A list of Markdown to Website converters on this thread: Jekyll - Ruby - 2008 MkDocs - Python - 2014 GitBook - JavaScript (Node.js) - 2014 MkDocs Material - Python (MkDocs-based) - 2016 Docsify - JavaScript - 2016 MdBook - Rust - 2017 Antora - JavaScript (Node.js) - 2017 Docusaurus - JavaScript (React) - 2017 JupyterBook - Python - 2019 Keenwrite - Java - ~2019 Honkit - JavaScript (GitBook fork) - 2019 Nextra - JavaScript (Next.js) - 2020 Astro - JavaScript/TypeScript - 2021 Hugo Book - Go (Hugo-based) - ~2020 Clowncar - JavaScript/Node.js - ~2021 Quarto - R and Python - 2022 Starlight - JavaScript/TypeScript - 2023 DuckDB has an LLMs.txt. Today, 38 repos on GitHub support it When identifying LLM use cases, it helps to tell LLMs what they can do. I use one or more of a list like below: Core capabilities: Text Generation: Produce coherent and contextually relevant text across various domains. Image Generation: Create realistic images that match the style and content of a given reference image. Text to Speech: Convert text into natural-sounding speech with appropriate intonation and rhythm. Speech to Text: Transcribe and interpret spoken language. Vision: Analyze and describe visual content from images. Video Analysis: Summarize and extract information from video content. Text to Video: Generate realistic (and surrealistic) videos from text descriptions. Function Calling: Execute predefined functions or access external tools to perform specific tasks. Structured Output: Generate structured outputs like JSON, XML, HTML, YAML, DSLs, etc. Tool Use: Utilize external applications or APIs to enhance functionality. Code Generation: Write and debug code snippets in various programming languages. Cross-domain use cases: Summarization: Understand and condense lengthy documents into concise summaries. Translation: Convert text between multiple languages with high accuracy. Question Answering: Provide precise answers to user queries based on provided information. Reasoning and Planning: Solve complex problems and develop step-by-step plans. Personalization: Tailor responses based on user preferences and historical interactions. Dialogue Management: Engage in context-aware, multi-turn conversations. Data Analysis: Interpret and generate insights from structured data. Content Moderation: Identify and filter inappropriate or harmful content. Sentiment Analysis: Detect and interpret emotions and opinions in text. Robotics Integration: Interface with robotic systems for control and decision-making. Knowledge Retrieval: Access and present information from vast datasets or knowledge bases. Creative Writing: Generate poetry, stories, and other creative content. Educational Assistance: Provide explanations and tutoring across various subjects. Ethical Reasoning: Assess scenarios for ethical considerations and implications. Accessibility Support: Assist users with disabilities through tailored interactions. Simulation and Modeling: Create predictive models and simulate scenarios. Domain-specific use cases: Legal and Medical Assistance: Offer information and guidance within legal and medical domains. Gaming: Generate narratives, dialogues, and scenarios for interactive entertainment. Scientific Research: Aid in literature reviews, hypothesis generation, and data interpretation. Financial Analysis: Analyze market trends and provide investment insights. Cultural Competence: Understand and respect diverse cultural contexts in interactions. Security Applications: Detect and respond to potential cybersecurity threats. Environmental Monitoring: Analyze data related to environmental changes and sustainability. Healthcare Support: Assist in patient monitoring, diagnostics, and personalized treatment plans. Supply Chain Optimization: Enhance logistics and inventory management through predictive analysis. Customer Service: Provide automated support and resolve customer inquiries. Market Research: Analyze consumer behavior and market trends for business insights. Content Creation: Generate articles, blogs, and marketing materials. Virtual Assistance: Manage schedules, reminders, and personal tasks. Social Media Management: Craft posts and engage with audiences across platforms. Human Resources: Assist in recruitment, training, and employee engagement strategies. Event Planning: Organize and coordinate events, including logistics and communication. Travel Planning: Provide itineraries, booking assistance, and destination information. Real Estate: Analyze property markets and assist in buying or selling decisions. Agriculture: Monitor crop health and optimize farming practices through data analysis. Energy Management: Optimize energy consumption and monitor renewable energy sources. Transportation: Enhance route planning and traffic management systems. Urban Planning: Assist in designing sustainable and efficient urban infrastructures. Disaster Response: Provide real-time information and coordination during emergencies. Public Policy: Analyze data to inform policy decisions and predict societal impacts. Art and Design: Generate visual art concepts and assist in creative design processes. Music Composition: Create original music pieces and assist in songwriting. Language Learning: Facilitate language acquisition through interactive exercises and feedback. Historical Analysis: Interpret historical data and provide insights into past events. Philanthropy: Identify charitable opportunities and assess the impact of donations. Sports Analytics: Analyze player performance and game strategies. Fashion: Predict trends and assist in clothing design and merchandising. Culinary Arts: Generate recipes and provide cooking guidance. Astronomy: Analyze celestial data and assist in space exploration research. Psychology: Offer insights into human behavior and mental health support. Linguistics: Analyze language patterns and assist in translation studies. Archaeology: Assist in artifact analysis and historical site interpretations. Literature Analysis: Interpret literary works and provide critical analyses. Philosophy: Engage in discussions on ethical dilemmas and existential questions. Mathematics: Solve complex equations and assist in theoretical research. Physics: Model physical phenomena and assist in experimental design. Chemistry: Analyze chemical compounds and predict reactions. Biology: Assist in genetic research and ecological studies. Geology: Analyze geological data and assist in natural resource exploration. Meteorology: Predict weather patterns and analyze climate data. Oceanography: Study marine ecosystems and assist in ocean exploration. Anthropology: Analyze cultural data and assist in ethnographic research. Style of writing impacts output style a lot. E.g. Adding an evil laugh makes Claude more creative. Ethan Mollick For good structured mode output, we need good prompting. Mentioning examples and schema and “JSON” helps. When providing examples, using (user, assistant) message pairs helps (I think it’s because it’s easier for the LLM to parse). Using a {reasoning, answer} schema (with reasoning first) helps. Make reasoning concise and relevant Ref Arxiv We already know code in JSON is not a great idea. Ref Just adding 3 real examples and regurgitation helped GPT 4o play chess much better. Both techniques may have more general use in prompting. Simon Willison With Deno 2.0, the same .js file can run in Node.js as well as Deno. Example jspm lets you generate import maps against any CDN. You can click on htop columns on the terminal to sort by that column! Mouse events work on command line apps. Julia Evans Alt Text will very likely be a browser feature. It’s important for the Alt text to flow as part of the content when listening to the page. Perhaps even become a part of the browser APIs like speechRecognition. Langchain suggests multiple levels of agentic behaviour. LLM Call < LLM Chain < LLM Rounter < State Machine < Autonomous Langchain A HTML quine: A page that, when rendered as HTML, shows the HTML source code of the page! You can enable syntax highlighting just using fonts. Ref HTML is all you need shows examples of using HTML for notebooks instead of Jupyter, Observable, etc. Straive evaluated Gemini 1.5 Flash 002 and GPT 4o Mini for translation. Portugese: Flash is better than GPT 4o Mini. BLEU Word Overlap is 65.5% > 64.6% and METEOR (Semantic) is 84.9% > 78.9% Mandarin: Flash is better than GPT 4o Mini. BLEU Word Overlap is 25.0% > 15.9% and METEOR (Semantic) is 54.7% > 51.1% The problem with Accept headers is that you can’t link to them. Simon Willison Recraft v3 supports vector (SVG) generation Simon Willison. The output is 100% <path> elements (even for text). You get 50 free credits daily. Creating 1 image is ~2 credits. The API costs $1 per 1K credits. Some things I can create with it are: Base data visualizations that I can animate with code Icons in a specific style Comic strips Explainers for talks or student material Featured images for blog posts Architecture diagrams?