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Tools: Code Is All You Need

(lucumr.pocoo.org)
313 points Bogdanp | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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pclowes ◴[] No.44454741[source]
Directionally I think this is right. Most LLM usage at scale tends to be filling the gaps between two hardened interfaces. The reliability comes not from the LLM inference and generation but the interfaces themselves only allowing certain configuration to work with them.

LLM output is often coerced back into something more deterministic such as types, or DB primary keys. The value of the LLM is determined by how well your existing code and tools model the data, logic, and actions of your domain.

In some ways I view LLMs today a bit like 3D printers, both in terms of hype and in terms of utility. They excel at quickly connecting parts similar to rapid prototyping with 3d printing parts. For reliability and scale you want either the LLM or an engineer to replace the printed/inferred connector with something durable and deterministic (metal/code) that is cheap and fast to run at scale.

Additionally, there was a minute during the 3D printer Gardner hype cycle where there were notions that we would all just print substantial amounts of consumer goods when the reality is the high utility use case are much more narrow. There is a corollary here to LLM usage. While LLMs are extremely useful we cannot rely on LLMs to generate or infer our entire operational reality or even engage meaningfully with it without some sort of pre-existing digital modeling as an anchor.

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whiplash451 ◴[] No.44455505[source]
Interesting take but too bearish on LLMs in my opinion.

LLMs have already found large-scale usage (deep research, translation) which makes them more ubiquitous today than 3D printers ever will or could have been.

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dingnuts ◴[] No.44455662[source]
And yet you didn't provide a single reference link! Every case of LLM usage that I've seen claimed about those things has been largely a lie -- guess you won't take the opportunity to be the first to present a real example. Just another rumor.
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whiplash451 ◴[] No.44455788{3}[source]
My reference is the daily usage of chatgpt around me (outside of tech circles).

I don’t want to sound like a hard-core LLM believer. I get your point and it’s fair.

I just wanted to point out that the current usage of chatgpt is a lot broader than that of 3D printers even at the peak hype of it.

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dingnuts ◴[] No.44455851{4}[source]
Outside of tech circles it looks like NFTs: people following hype using tech they don't understand which will be popular until the downsides we're aware of that they are ignorant to have consequences, and then the market will reflect the shift in opinion.
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1. basch ◴[] No.44455975{5}[source]
No way.

Everybody under a certain age is using ChatGPT, where they were once using search and friendship/expertises. It’s the number 1 app in the App Store. Copilot use in the enterprise is so seamless, you just talk to PowerPoint or outlook and it formulated what you were supposed to make or write.

It’s not a fad, it is a paradigm change.

People don’t need to understand how it works for it to work.

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2. lotsoweiners ◴[] No.44458465[source]
> It’s the number 1 app in the App Store.

When I checked the iOS App Store just now, something called Love Island USA is the #1 free app. Kinda makes you think….

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3. dingnuts ◴[] No.44459185[source]
I know it's popular; that doesn't mean it's not a fad. Consequences take time. It's easy to use but once you get burned in a serious way by the bot that's still wrong 20% of the time, you'll become more reluctant to put your coin in the slot machine.

Maybe if the AI companies start offering refunds for wrong answers, then the price per token might not be such a scam.

4. basch ◴[] No.44528619[source]
It's back to #1. The show is towards the end of the season and people need to vote for their favorite couples. Itll drop off the chart soon. ChatGPT will not.

A little surprised to see Threads at 4 though.