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Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

Prof. Subbarao Kambhampati - LLMs don't reason, they memorize (ICML2024 2/13)

Jul 29, 2024
01:42:27
Snipd AI
Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI expert, discusses the inherent limitations of large language models (LLMs) in reasoning and logical tasks. He argues that while LLMs excel in creative applications, they often confuse fluency with content comprehension. Kambhampati emphasizes the necessity for hybrid models that pair LLMs with external verification to improve accuracy. He also critiques how publication pressures affect research integrity, calling for a more skeptical evaluation of LLM capabilities and the role of human collaboration in enhancing their outputs.
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Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Prof. Kambhampati highlights that LLMs excel in language generation but fundamentally lack genuine reasoning capabilities and logical verification.
  • The limitations of LLMs are evident in their reliance on memorization instead of independent reasoning, particularly in complex tasks like planning.

Deep dives

The Nature of Reasoning and Answering

When faced with a reasoning question, it can be difficult to distinguish between answering from memory and genuine reasoning. An example is the question of why manhole covers are round, where the initial answer required understanding that other shapes could fall through the hole, illustrating first principles reasoning. Now, many people might respond based on research or prior knowledge, which only reflects preparation rather than reasoning ability. This highlights the uniqueness of human reasoning compared to large language models (LLMs), which excel in language generation but lack true reasoning capabilities.

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