Lessons from creating a successful LLM-based feature for breaking down and summarizing user interviews, emphasizing how we nailed it by focusing on context, user feedback, and the right balance of AI and user experience.
It’s been over a year since my team at Looppanel shipped our first LLM-powered feature. We have added more such capabilities since then but the first one taught us some lessons that are worth sharing.
Lessons that can help you when using large language models (LLMs) in a software production environment
One day, I will write a nuanced post about using large language models in production. It will be better than all the nuanced posts published so far about using large language models in production. Until then, here are some brief lessons learnt from building and operating LLM APIs in a production environment for the last 6 months.
Frameworks to think about role of user experience when creating enterprise software
During the first 2-3 years of my career, I used to think that enterprise software can get by with average UX (user experience). I don’t believe that anymore. It depends a lot on the type of work the end-user does. The extent of involvement of managers and executives also plays a part.
Blueprint to understand recent advances in natural language technology in a hands-on manner. Topics covered include transformers, language models (BERT, GPT-2), evaluation benchmarks, and conversational interfaces/chatbots.
In early June 2020, I decided to learn about the current state of NLP and correspondingly, role of (narrow) AI. My usual approach to understanding a topic is bottom-up. Understand the fundamentals thoroughly before starting out with a project. Constrained by time and inspired by a pedagogy promoted by the likes of Fast AI, I decided to go project-first instead.
Musings about inspiration, its importance for technological progress and a call for action to inspire those around you.
It had been less than a week since I had entered college. I was standing in front of a crowded computer lab full of starry-eyed freshers. A senior (final-year student) drew a curve on the blackboard. It was either a parabola or a line. Truth is I don’t really remember. Over the next 30 minutes, I listened to the senior to explain how computer science is deeply intertwined with maths. I was surprised to learn that even those not from a computer science program could benefit from learning to code.
