The hottest Substack posts of Nick Bradford's blog

And their main takeaways

Lessons from 15 months of building LLM agents

157 implied HN points • 16 Dec 23
  1. Evaluations in continuous integration are crucial for verifying LLM agent outputs due to brittleness and accumulation of small changes.
  2. To determine the success of an LLM agent, leveraging problem-specific heuristics and manually reading snapshot outputs are key.
  3. Maintaining observability for LLM agents involves logging, UI for LLM request histories, and prompt playgrounds for debugging and optimizing prompts.

Middle Managers as Misaligned Mesa-Optimizers

19 implied HN points • 29 Oct 23
  1. Optimization processes can lead to inner optimizers with goals different from the outer process, presenting challenges in AI alignment.
  2. In large organizations with middle managers, incentives can become misaligned, leading to a culture of office politics and fragmented objectives.
  3. Possible solutions to tackle misalignment in organizations include feedback mechanisms, implementing yearly performance bonuses, and fostering a transparent culture to mitigate office politics.

To Improve Your Life, First Measure It

3 HN points • 02 Jan 24
  1. Tracking metrics can help improve productivity by measuring and managing daily habits and activities.
  2. Maintaining high energy levels is crucial for productivity, and factors like excitement for work, sufficient rest, and a balanced diet play a significant role.
  3. Setting clear goals, prioritizing effectively, and focusing on the destination rather than the process are essential for sustainable and effective improvement.

LLM agents behind every API call

2 HN points • 02 Oct 23
  1. More applications are being driven by AI agents, leading to APIs turning into chat interfaces where you can interact in natural language.
  2. Specialized AIs are working together where tasks are delegated across a network of AI assistants for more efficient problem-solving.
  3. The future will likely involve increased AI agent specialization, enabling better delegation and collaboration for tasks requiring diverse skills.