Combining LLM with Traditional Coding
Blog: Decision Management Community
A project lead of Google Bard just announced that “Bard is improving at mathematical tasks, coding questions and string manipulation through a new technique called implicit code execution. Plus, it has a new export action to Google Sheets… With this latest update, we’ve combined the capabilities of both LLMs (System 1) and traditional code (System 2) to help improve accuracy in Bard’s responses.” Link
This approach takes inspiration from a well-studied dichotomy in human intelligence, notably covered in Daniel Kahneman’s book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” — the separation of “System 1” and “System 2” thinking.
- System 1 thinking is fast, intuitive and effortless. When a jazz musician improvises on the spot or a touch-typer thinks about a word and watches it appear on the screen, they’re using System 1 thinking.
- System 2 thinking, by contrast, is slow, deliberate and effortful. When you’re carrying out long division or learning how to play an instrument, you’re using System 2.
In this analogy, LLMs can be thought of as operating purely under System 1 — producing text quickly but without deep thought. This leads to some incredible capabilities, but can fall short in some surprising ways. (Imagine trying to solve a math problem using System 1 alone: You can’t stop and do the arithmetic, you just have to spit out the first answer that comes to mind.) Traditional computation closely aligns with System 2 thinking: It’s formulaic and inflexible, but the right sequence of steps can produce impressive results, such as solutions to long division.
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