Demystifying AI - TechTalks

Demystifying vibe coding: Hype, reality, and why you still need to code

Ben Dickson — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:16:42 +0000

There is a lot of hype surrounding "vibe coding." But there is a darker reality to letting AI write your entire code and ignoring fundamental software skills.

The post Demystifying vibe coding: Hype, reality, and why you still need to code first appeared on TechTalks.

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 11:57:55 +0000

Model Context Protocol (MCP) simplifies LLM integration with external tools, enhancing AI agents' functionality and flexibility in various applications.

The post What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)? first appeared on TechTalks.

Everything you need to know about Grok-3

Ben Dickson — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:54:29 +0000

Grok-3 storms the AI scene, boasting superior capabilities and competitive benchmarks. Here's everything to know about this new LLM and LRM from xAI.

The post Everything you need to know about Grok-3 first appeared on TechTalks.

Demystifying DeepSeek-R1, the model that shocked the AI industry

Ben Dickson — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:01:23 +0000

There is a lot of hype and confusion around DeepSeek-R1. Here is what you need to know about how this reasoning model works and what makes it special.

The post Demystifying DeepSeek-R1, the model that shocked the AI industry first appeared on TechTalks.

Can AI make scientific discoveries?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 08:30:50 +0000

Current AI algorithms can solve the "easy problem" of scientific research, but the "hard problem" of coming up with the actual problem is the human's job.

The post Can AI make scientific discoveries? first appeared on TechTalks.

Can GPT-4 and GPT-4V perform abstract reasoning like humans?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000

A new study examines the ability of GPT-4 for abstract reasoning on the ConceptARC dataset. This is important as LLMs become important in everyday applications

The post Can GPT-4 and GPT-4V perform abstract reasoning like humans? first appeared on TechTalks.

The complete guide to LLM compression

Ben Dickson — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Large language models (LLM) require huge memory and computational resources. LLM compression techniques make models more compact and executable on memory-constrained devices.

The post The complete guide to LLM compression first appeared on TechTalks.

Why data contamination is a big issue for LLMs

Ben Dickson — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Data contamination is a common problem in machine learning. But when it comes to large language models (LLM), it becomes more nuanced and complicated.

The post Why data contamination is a big issue for LLMs first appeared on TechTalks.

The complete guide to LLM fine-tuning

Ben Dickson — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Everything to know about LLM fine-tuning, supervised fine-tuning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), and parameter-efficient fine-tuning (PEFT)

The post The complete guide to LLM fine-tuning first appeared on TechTalks.

Are the emergent abilities of LLMs like GPT-4 a mirage?

Ben Dickson — Wed, 17 May 2023 13:00:00 +0000

A new study byStanford University suggests that the emergent abilities of large language models (LLM) are caused by a poor choice of evaluation metrics.

The post Are the emergent abilities of LLMs like GPT-4 a mirage? first appeared on TechTalks.

What you need to know about multimodal language models

Ben Dickson — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Multimodal language models bring together text, images, and other datatypes to solve some of the problems current artificial intelligence systems suffer from.

The post What you need to know about multimodal language models first appeared on TechTalks.

What is reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF)?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) is the technique that has made ChatGPT very impressive. But there is more to RLHF that large language models (LLM).

The post What is reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF)? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is the “forward-forward” algorithm, Geoffrey Hinton’s new AI technique?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:00:00 +0000

In a new NeurIPS paper, Geoffrey Hinton introduced the “forward-forward algorithm,” a new learning algorithm for artificial neural networks inspired by the brain.

The post What is the “forward-forward” algorithm, Geoffrey Hinton’s new AI technique? first appeared on TechTalks.

The truth about the AI alphabet soup (ANI, AGI, ASI)

Rich Heimann — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 14:00:00 +0000

AI is not three things. AI is one thing: a singular and unprecedented goal to recreate intelligence ex nihilo. However, this goal is permanently misaligned with business.

The post The truth about the AI alphabet soup (ANI, AGI, ASI) first appeared on TechTalks.

How to solve AI’s “common sense” problem

Ben Dickson — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 13:00:00 +0000

"Machines Like Us" argues that the artificial intelligence community needs to revisit symbolic reasoning to solve AI's "common sense" problem.

The post How to solve AI’s “common sense” problem first appeared on TechTalks.

What is boosting in machine learning?

Contributor — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:00:00 +0000

By Mona Eslamijam This article is part of Demystifying AI, a series of posts that (try to) disambiguate the jargon and myths surrounding AI. We train machine learning models to predict values such as the weather, stock prices, the class of an image, or the sentiment of a social media post. However, often, machine learning models […]

The post What is boosting in machine learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

Large language models have a reasoning problem

Ben Dickson — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0000

According to a research paper by scientists at UCLA, transformers, the deep learning architectures used in LLMs, don’t learn to emulate reasoning functions.

The post Large language models have a reasoning problem first appeared on TechTalks.

“Sentience” is the wrong discussion to have on AI right now

Ben Dickson — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Instead of "sentience" and "consciousness," we should discuss human compatibility and trust issues with current AI systems.

The post “Sentience” is the wrong discussion to have on AI right now first appeared on TechTalks.

Machine learning: What is the transformer architecture?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 02 May 2022 13:03:52 +0000

The transformer model has become one of the main highlights of advances in deep learning and deep neural networks.

The post Machine learning: What is the transformer architecture? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is neural architecture search?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Neural architecture search NAS is a series of machine learning techniques that can help discover optimal neural networks for a given problem.

The post What is neural architecture search? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is a support vector machine (SVM)?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Support vector machine (SVM) is a type of machine learning algorithm that can be used for classification and regression tasks.

The post What is a support vector machine (SVM)? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is data augmentation?

Ben Dickson — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Data augmentation improves machine learning performance by generating new training examples from existing data.

The post What is data augmentation? first appeared on TechTalks.

What are graph neural networks (GNN)?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Graph neural networks (GNN) are a type of machine learning algorithm that can extract important information from graphs and make useful predictions.

The post What are graph neural networks (GNN)? first appeared on TechTalks.

Abductive inference: The blind spot of artificial intelligence

Ben Dickson — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In his book, "The Myth of Artificial Intelligence," computer scientist Erik Larson discusses how widely publicized misconceptions have led AI research down narrow paths that are limiting innovation and scientific discoveries.

The post Abductive inference: The blind spot of artificial intelligence first appeared on TechTalks.

Demystifying deep reinforcement learning

Ben Dickson — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Deep reinforcement learning is one of the most interesting branches of AI, responsible for achievements such as mastering complex games, self-driving cars, and robotics.

The post Demystifying deep reinforcement learning first appeared on TechTalks.

4 key misunderstandings in AI

Ben Dickson — Mon, 03 May 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell lays out four fallacies that have led to overpromising and underdelivering in artificial intelligence.

The post 4 key misunderstandings in AI first appeared on TechTalks.

Machine learning: What are membership inference attacks?

Ben Dickson — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Membership inference attacks can detect examples used to train machine learning models even after those examples have been discarded.

The post Machine learning: What are membership inference attacks? first appeared on TechTalks.

Why AI can’t solve unknown problems

Ben Dickson — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 13:19:19 +0000

Artificial intelligence algorithms can perform well-represented tasks, but they can't discover and solve unknown and undiscovered problems.

The post Why AI can’t solve unknown problems first appeared on TechTalks.

Demystifying deep learning

Ben Dickson — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:59:34 +0000

Deep learning is not magic and out of reach. It’s the composition of small and simple components that together can perform remarkable feats.

The post Demystifying deep learning first appeared on TechTalks.

What is semi-supervised machine learning?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 13:17:39 +0000

Semi-supervised learning helps you solve classification problems when you don't have labeled data to train your machine learning model.

The post What is semi-supervised machine learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is ensemble learning?

Ben Dickson — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:28:03 +0000

Ensemble learning is a popular machine learning technique that combines several models to improve overall accuracy of AI algorithms.

The post What is ensemble learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

The security threat of adversarial machine learning is real

Ben Dickson — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:00:00 +0000

The Adversarial ML Threat Matrix provides guidelines that help detect and prevent attacks on machine learning systems.

The post The security threat of adversarial machine learning is real first appeared on TechTalks.

What is machine learning data poisoning?

Ben Dickson — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 13:00:10 +0000

Data poisoning attack target the training of machine learning algorithms and cause them to behave maliciously during inference.

The post What is machine learning data poisoning? first appeared on TechTalks.

The Guardian’s GPT-3-written article misleads readers about AI. Here’s why.

Ben Dickson — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 13:05:53 +0000

The Guardian ran an article that was allegedly written by OpenAI's language model GPT-3. The text is amusing, but misrepresents advances in artificial intelligence.

The post The Guardian’s GPT-3-written article misleads readers about AI. Here’s why. first appeared on TechTalks.

An AI-written blog highlights bad human judgment on GPT-3

Ben Dickson — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 13:00:25 +0000

A blog written by GPT-3 triggered a lot of hype in the media. But most stories paint an incorrect picture of advances in AI.

The post An AI-written blog highlights bad human judgment on GPT-3 first appeared on TechTalks.

What is one-shot learning?

Ben Dickson — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 13:00:19 +0000

One-shot learning allows deep learning algorithms to measure the similarity and difference between two images.

The post What is one-shot learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

Why deep learning won’t give us level 5 self-driving cars

Ben Dickson — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:00:12 +0000

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the basic functionality of level 5 self-driving cars will be completed by the end of 2020. But given the limits of deep learning, that is unlikely to happen.

The post Why deep learning won’t give us level 5 self-driving cars first appeared on TechTalks.

What is adversarial machine learning?

Ben Dickson — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 13:00:52 +0000

Adversarial examples are slight manipulations that cause machine learning algorithms to misclassify images while going unnoticed to the human eye.

The post What is adversarial machine learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

AI’s struggle to reach “understanding” and “meaning”

Ben Dickson — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 13:00:11 +0000

Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell breaks down the key elements that could allow artificial intelligence algorithms to grasp the "meaning" of things.

The post AI’s struggle to reach “understanding” and “meaning” first appeared on TechTalks.

What is the difference between artificial neural networks and biological brains

Ben Dickson — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 13:00:45 +0000

Neuroscience professor Anthony Zador discusses what it takes for artificial neural networks to become as efficient as brains in learning things.

The post What is the difference between artificial neural networks and biological brains first appeared on TechTalks.

Artificial neural networks are more similar to the brain than they get credit for

Ben Dickson — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 12:45:39 +0000

Deep neural networks are much closer to the human brain than is popularly believed, researchers at Princeton University argue.

The post Artificial neural networks are more similar to the brain than they get credit for first appeared on TechTalks.

What are recurrent neural networks (RNN)?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 13:00:40 +0000

Recurrent neural networks enable computers to process text, videos, time series, and other sequential data.

The post What are recurrent neural networks (RNN)? first appeared on TechTalks.

Why the coronavirus pandemic confuses AI algorithms

Ben Dickson — Mon, 25 May 2020 13:00:50 +0000

The coronavirus pandemic has caused machine learning algorithms to behave in unusual ways.

The post Why the coronavirus pandemic confuses AI algorithms first appeared on TechTalks.

What is artificial general intelligence (general AI/AGI)?

Ben Dickson — Wed, 13 May 2020 13:00:45 +0000

The quest for creating thinking machines has split artificial intelligence into two fields: Narrow AI, what we have, and general AI, what we wish to achieve

The post What is artificial general intelligence (general AI/AGI)? first appeared on TechTalks.

What is artificial narrow intelligence (Narrow AI)?

Ben Dickson — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:06:40 +0000

Narrow AI technologies are very good at solving specific problems, but they fall short of fulfilling the requirements for human-level AI.

The post What is artificial narrow intelligence (Narrow AI)? first appeared on TechTalks.

Self-supervised learning: The plan to make deep learning data-efficient

Ben Dickson — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:00:43 +0000

At the AAAI 2020 ConferenceDeep learning pioneer Yann LeCun discussed the problems of supervised learning and possible solutions to make AI less data-hungry.

The post Self-supervised learning: The plan to make deep learning data-efficient first appeared on TechTalks.

The case for hybrid artificial intelligence

Ben Dickson — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 14:00:20 +0000

Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus argues why hybrid artificial intelligence, the combination of neural networks and symbol manipulation, can create robust AI systems.

The post The case for hybrid artificial intelligence first appeared on TechTalks.

Understanding the limits of CNNs, one of AI’s greatest achievements

Ben Dickson — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 14:00:15 +0000

In his AAAI speech, deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton discussed the limits of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and their differences with the human vision system.

The post Understanding the limits of CNNs, one of AI’s greatest achievements first appeared on TechTalks.

What is the difference between supervised and unsupervised machine learning?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:00:49 +0000

The two main types of machine learning categories are supervised and unsupervised learning. In this post, we examine their key features and differences.

The post What is the difference between supervised and unsupervised machine learning? first appeared on TechTalks.

Artificial intelligence: Does another huge language model prove anything?

Ben Dickson — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:00:59 +0000

Google's new chatbot Meena is the largest artificial intelligence language model released to date. The results are impressive, but has it moved the needle on natural language understanding?

The post Artificial intelligence: Does another huge language model prove anything? first appeared on TechTalks.