Software Misadventures

LLMs are like your weird, over-confident intern | Simon Willison (Datasette)

Sep 10, 2024

Simon Willison, co-creator of Django and Datasette, shares insights on navigating the world of LLMs. He compares LLMs to a quirky intern and discusses their evolution, emphasizing the importance of blogging for accountability. Simon dives into productive use of GitHub issues for documentation, and the nuances of prompt engineering. He also reflects on how LLMs can foster ambition in developers while addressing their limitations. Finally, he shares the exciting journey of developing a startup with his partner, blending personal and professional life.

01:55:50

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Episode guests

Simon Willison

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Quick takeaways

Comparing LLMs to a weird intern highlights the unique, interactive relationship users have with AI systems and their feedback-driven improvements.

Blogging acts as an accountability mechanism, promoting reflection and knowledge sharing that enriches understanding and retention of new technologies.

The introduction of ChatGPT fundamentally transformed user interaction with AI, leading to rapid experimentation and a wealth of shared knowledge about prompting techniques.

Managing projects through GitHub issues enhances productivity by maintaining comprehensive documentation, allowing developers to easily resume work without recalling all details.

Deep dives

The Concept of the 'Weird Intern'

The comparison of language models to a 'weird intern' highlights the unique relationship users have with AI systems. This intern embodies traits such as overconfidence in completion and a willingness to adapt based purely on feedback. When users prompt the model with phrases like 'do better,' it surprisingly leads to improved outputs, underscoring the interactive nature of this technology. This reflects a broader perspective on how AI can enhance productivity by allowing for iterative improvement in tasks.

Streamline Content Sharing with Simple Techniques

00:55

Mastery Requires Time and Experience

01:01

Intro

2min

Reflections on AI Evolution

9min

Maximizing Productivity with GitHub Issues

9min

Maximizing Blog Reach with Substack

8min

Mastering LLMs: A Command-Line Approach

12min

Harnessing Language Models: Opportunities and Challenges

25min

Harnessing LLMs for Podcast Research and Development

29min

From Codes to Collaboration: A Journey in Software Development

17min

Ethics and Innovation in AI Discussions

5min

Known for co-creating Django and Datasette, as well as his thoughtful writing on LLMs, Simon Willison joins the show to chat about blogging as an accountability mechanism, how to build intuition with LLMs, building a startup with his partner on their honeymoon, and more.

Segments:

(00:00:00) The weird intern

(00:01:50) The early days of LLMs

(00:04:59) Blogging as an accountability mechanism

(00:09:24) The low-pressure approach to blogging

(00:11:47) GitHub issues as a system of records

(00:16:15) Temporal documentation and design docs

(00:18:19) GitHub issues for team collaboration

(00:21:53) Copy-paste as an API

(00:26:54) Observable notebooks

(00:28:50) pip install LLM

(00:32:26) The evolution of using LLMs daily

(00:34:47) Building intuition with LLMs

(00:43:24) Democratizing access to automation

(00:47:45) Alternative interfaces for language models

(00:53:39) Is prompt engineering really engineering?

(00:58:39) The frustrations of working with LLMs

(01:01:59) Structured data extraction with LLMs

(01:06:08) How Simon would go about building a LLM app

(01:09:49) LLMs making developers more ambitious

(01:13:32) Typical workflow with LLMs

(01:19:58) Vibes-based evaluation

(01:23:25) Staying up-to-date with LLMs

(01:27:49) The impact of LLMs on new programmers

(01:29:37) The rise of 'Goop' and the future of software development

(01:40:20) Being an independent developer

(01:42:26) Staying focused and accountable

(01:47:30) Building a startup with your partner on the honeymoon

(01:51:30) The responsibility of AI practitioners

(01:53:07) The hidden dangers of prompt injection

(01:53:44) “Artificial intelligence” is really “imitation intelligence”

Show Notes:

Simon’s blog: https://simonwillison.net/

Natalie’s post on them building a startup together: https://blog.natbat.net/post/61658401806/lanyrd-from-idea-to-exit

Simon’s talk from DjangoCon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLkRK2rJGB0

Simon on twitter: https://x.com/simonw

Datasette: https://github.com/simonw/datasette

Stay in touch:

👋 Make Ronak’s day by leaving us a review and let us know who we should talk to next! hello@softwaremisadventures.com

Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Forest License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

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Software Misadventures

LLMs are like your weird, over-confident intern | Simon Willison (Datasette)

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Concept of the 'Weird Intern'

Early Experiences with Language Models

The Launch of ChatGPT and Its Impact

The Power of Writing and Blog as Accountability

Vlogging Insights and Motivation

Utilizing GitHub Issues for Productivity

Learning through Personal Projects

Navigating Opportunities as an Independent Developer

Streamline Content Sharing with Simple Techniques

Mastery Requires Time and Experience

Get the Snipd
podcast app

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

Save any
moment

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Software Misadventures

LLMs are like your weird, over-confident intern | Simon Willison (Datasette)

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Concept of the 'Weird Intern'

Early Experiences with Language Models

The Launch of ChatGPT and Its Impact

The Power of Writing and Blog as Accountability

Vlogging Insights and Motivation

Utilizing GitHub Issues for Productivity

Learning through Personal Projects

Navigating Opportunities as an Independent Developer

Streamline Content Sharing with Simple Techniques

Mastery Requires Time and Experience

Get the Snipdpodcast app

AI-poweredpodcast player

Discoverhighlights

Save anymoment

Share& Export

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Discoverhighlights

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