Unsupervised Learning A Conversation with Michael Brown About Designing AI Systems
5 snips
Aug 22, 2025 Michael Brown, Principal Security Engineer at Trail of Bits, reveals the innovative design behind Buttercup, an AI-driven cybersecurity system that earned 2nd place in the AI Cyber Challenge. He discusses how blending deterministic systems with AI can outperform traditional methods. The conversation delves into the importance of modular architectures, risk management in AI pipelines, and the complexities of using large language models for security tasks. Brown also shares insights on the future of AI in cybersecurity and its potential applications.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Pipeline Over Monoliths
- Break complex problems into a pipeline of specialized subproblems and solve each with the best technique available.
- Stitch those components with reliable engineering to minimize failure and maximize uptime.
Modularize For Parallel Development
- Modularize components so small teams can develop them independently and enable plug-and-play experimentation.
- Accept integration effort as the tradeoff for faster parallel development and flexibility.
Avoid Long LLM Chains
- Use AI for tightly constrained, contextual tasks and avoid long LLM-driven pipelines that compound errors.
- Keep models focused on small problems to reduce cascading failures in sequential workflows.