1. GenAI and erroneous medical references
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are being used in the medical field, but there are concerns about their safety and effectiveness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is struggling to regulate these models since they fall in a gray area between existing technologies. The FDA has approved over 700 AI medical devices, but LLMs pose a challenge because they combine existing medical information with potential ideas that may not be accurate. A new study found that LLMs have difficulty substantiating their claims with accurate references. For the most advanced model tested, 30% of individual statements were unsupported, and almost half of the responses were not fully supported. Evaluations showed that most models struggle to provide relevant sources, with some producing invalid URLs. However, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) models performed better by first searching the web for relevant sources before generating a summary. Overall, the study highlights the need to improve the ability of LLMs to produce accurate references to support their claims in order to ensure the reliability of their assessments in the medical field.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the performance of the GPT-4 model with retrieval augmented generation (RAG) in providing accurate and supported responses. It highlights that 30% of individual statements from this model are unsupported, and almost half of its responses lack full support. The author emphasizes the importance of examining the source code and data to understand the implementation of the RAG system and its impact on these results. Additionally, an update mentions that GPT-4 (RAG) utilizes Bing for web browsing capabilities, particularly for providing citations in response to medical questions. The mentioned link provides further information on this topic.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses an individual’s experience with ChatGPT, an AI language model, in the realm of medical information. The person’s friend became engrossed in alternative medical theories and supplements, fueled by ChatGPT’s responses. The friend relied on leading questions to obtain answers that aligned with his beliefs, dismissing contradictory information as hallucinations or errors. The article highlights the potential danger of ChatGPT becoming a tool for hypochondriacs, surpassing the influence of WebMD.
2. Architecture.md (2021)
Total comment counts : 21
Summary
This article encourages open-source project maintainers to include an ARCHITECTURE document alongside the README and CONTRIBUTING files. The author emphasizes that this is not just another call for more documentation, but rather a suggestion to add a high-level overview of the project’s physical architecture. The author argues that having this document can significantly reduce the time it takes for contributors to understand and make changes to the code. The ARCHITECTURE document should be kept short, describing the problem being solved, a codemap of the project’s modules, and any important architectural invariants or boundaries between layers and systems. The document should be revisited a few times a year and should not be tightly coupled with the codebase. The author provides a good example of an ARCHITECTURE document from the rust-analyzer project.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests that open-source projects with a code size of 10k-200k lines should include an ARCHITECTURE document. However, the author believes that regardless of the repository size, it is still beneficial to have an architecture section in the Readme file. As an example, they mention placing a Mermaid sequence diagram in the main Readme to help readers understand the workflow. They provide links to the Mermaid documentation and a specific GitHub repository as examples.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests using ADRs (Architecture Decision Records) for projects with dedicated engineers, as they capture the “why” and “alternatives considered” for rearchitecting. It recommends ADRs for projects with many ad hoc contributors, as they require less maintenance. A link to more information about ADRs is provided.
3. A Distributed File System in Go Cut Average Metadata Memory Usage to 100 Bytes
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The article discusses JuiceFS, a cloud-native distributed file system written in Go that can manage tens of billions of files in a single namespace. It employs an all-in-memory metadata engine that achieves remarkable memory optimization, handling 300 million files with 30 GiB of memory and 100 microseconds response time. Techniques such as memory pools, manual memory management, directory compression, and compact file formats have reduced metadata memory usage by 90%. JuiceFS Enterprise Edition is able to manage about 300 million files with a single metadata service process using 30 GiB of memory, while maintaining an average processing time of 100 microseconds. In production, 10 metadata nodes each with 512 GB of memory collectively manage over 20 billion files. The metadata engine uses an all-in-memory approach, offering high memory efficiency and improved system performance compared to other file systems like HDFS NameNode and CephFS Metadata Server. The article explores the architecture, metadata engine design, and optimization methods. The development of JuiceFS was based on Go due to its advantages, but targeted optimizations were needed for memory management. The metadata engine’s main tasks include managing file metadata and handling client requests. JuiceFS adopted an all-in-memory approach with real-time transaction logs for reliability and using the Raft consensus algorithm for metadata replication and failover. The metadata engine operates in a lock-free mode, improving performance by executing all core data structure operations in a single thread. JuiceFS achieves horizontal scaling by distributing metadata across multiple nodes in virtual partitions, allowing for larger data scales and higher performance demands. A dynamic subtree splitting mechanism reduces distributed transactions and maintains low metadata response latencies even with extensive scaling. Reducing metadata memory usage is crucial for system stability and cost control.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the need for data integrity in file management systems, specifically in JuiceFS, which is written in Go and has the ability to handle large numbers of files in a single namespace. The author emphasizes the importance of having a strong integrity story as part of the system’s offerings. They suggest using cryptographic hashes to verify the contents of each object and make these hashes part of the inventory. The author also mentions the possibility of allowing the entire bucket to opt in to mandatory hashing and performing regular scrubs to verify the cryptographic hashes. Although this approach may increase metadata size, it is suggested that the hashes could be stored with the data instead of metadata, as long as there is a mechanism to inventory them. The author points out that even popular systems like S3 have limited support for this feature, and many competitors lack it entirely.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the implementation of a Slab allocator and suggests additional ways to improve performance. This includes reducing tlb stalls with hugepage awareness and reducing false cache sharing on SMPs. The article also suggests considering OS-managed memory compression for the compression part of the allocator. It provides links to resources for further information on these topics.
4. Amazon blocks long-running FireTV capability, Breaking apps with no warning
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
error
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the Android security model should not have allowed apps to have unrestricted access to the filesystem of other apps. This capability gives apps the ability to read, write, and modify files, which can be a major security concern. The article compares this to the scenario where the Facebook app on an iOS device can access files from banking or notes apps, emphasizing that this level of access is not enabled in Android systems that prioritize security.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that when writing about a feature being removed, it is important to consider readers who may not be familiar with acronyms. It suggests providing a description of the feature so that readers can understand its relevance without having to search for it.
5. Hallucination is inevitable: An innate limitation of large language models
Total comment counts : 43
Summary
The article discusses arXivLabs, a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new features directly on the arXiv website. It emphasizes the values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy that arXiv and its partners adhere to. The article also mentions that individuals and organizations can contribute ideas for projects that will benefit the arXiv community. Furthermore, it briefly mentions the option to receive status notifications via email or Slack.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the argument that due to the inequality between P and NP, Language Models (LLMs) will generate hallucinatory answers to NP-complete problems. The author finds this to be an interesting philosophical question, but notes that people tend to apply this concept using common-sense notions of hallucination rather than the formal notion presented in the paper. The author also questions the connection between common-sense hallucinations and NP-complete problems, as they seem to have different underlying reasons. Additionally, the article explores the idea that the formal world (math, logic, formal grammars) is a subset of the real world (natural language) and raises the question of whether humans inherently experience hallucination since we are unable to solve certain NP-complete problems. Furthermore, the author ponders whether our finite lifespans contribute to our inability to complete certain problems.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses skepticism about a formal approach to help LLMs answer “I don’t know” more often, which they believe would solve hallucinations. They liken this approach to an incompleteness theorem in math research. However, they argue that the problem at hand is not about LLMs needing to know everything, but rather the problem of them answering “I don’t know,” which may still be computable.
6. Every model learned by gradient descent is approximately a kernel machine (2020)
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
The article is about arXivLabs, a framework that enables collaboration and development of new features on the arXiv website. It emphasizes the values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy that arXiv is committed to. The article also highlights that only partners who adhere to these values are allowed to work with arXiv. Lastly, it mentions that arXiv provides operational status notifications via email or slack.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author expresses suspicion that impressive results from language models like LLMs and Sora are largely due to memorization rather than generalization. While these models can mix learned patterns and demonstrate impressive abilities to researchers, their performance on tasks that the public cares about is not always great. The author suggests that this may be due to a type of data laundering, where models like Sora regurgitate information seen during training, potentially created by humans using game engines or drone video. The author acknowledges the lack of strong evidence for this claim but highlights the high level of detail in Sora’s outputs that cannot be fully explained by text prompts or knowledge of how the model expands them for image/video generation. The author proposes that this level of detail may come from memorization.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the concept of kernel machines and their capabilities when the similarity function has infinite dimensions. It also mentions that an infinitely wide MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) can serve the same purpose. However, the article points out that these concepts change when reinforcement learning methods are introduced.
7. David Hahn, the ‘radioactive boy scout’ who tried to build a nuclear reactor (2022)
Total comment counts : 19
Summary
David Hahn, also known as the “Radioactive Boy Scout” or the “Nuclear Boy Scout,” attempted to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard shed when he was 17 years old. Hahn had been fascinated with science since childhood and had conducted various backyard science experiments. To gather information for his reactor project, Hahn contacted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission using aliases and cover stories. He collected dangerous materials such as thorium, radium, tritium, and lithium from household items and purchased batteries. Despite accidental burns, turning his hair green, and passing out, Hahn successfully created a crude neutron source. However, the experiment produced detectable radiation that spread to neighboring houses. Police discovered Hahn’s shed after finding suspicious materials in his car, leading to federal authorities getting involved. The Environmental Protection Agency declared the property a hazardous materials cleanup site. Despite refusing medical evaluation, Hahn achieved the rank of Eagle Scout but struggled to find direction after the fallout of his experiment.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how society has failed a person, and suggests that if a professor of nuclear engineering had offered guidance and assistance, the individual’s actions could have been performed safely and correctly.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article from MIT Admissions mentions a student who was not admitted because he had created a fully-functional nuclear reactor in his garage.
8. Tacit programming
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
The article discusses tacit programming, also known as point-free style, which is a programming paradigm where function definitions do not explicitly identify their arguments. Instead, functions are composed together using combinators that manipulate the arguments. Tacit programming is of theoretical interest and is naturally used in languages like APL, Forth, and Unix scripting with pipes. The lack of argument naming in point-free style has led to it being referred to as “pointless style.” The article provides examples in Python, Haskell, and other languages to illustrate the concept of point-free programming. It also mentions the use of point-free style in stack-oriented programming languages and concatenative languages. The article concludes by discussing how point-free programming is used in various programming languages, including PostScript and the JSON-oriented programming language, jq.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article explains that when using functional programming, they always store intermediate function calls in variables. This is because naming the variable forces them to explain what the intermediate result should be. If the intermediate result doesn’t make sense on its own, they create a new, well-named function for the chaining of functions, even if it is only used once. The author states that this approach is crucial for maintaining multi-year projects and prevents the code from becoming unreadable. They argue that writing code with future developers in mind is important because eventually, one can forget the context they had when writing the code.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is about a tool called “pointfree.io” that automatically translates code written in regular style to pointfree style. The example given shows a transformation of a quadratic equation function using the pointfree.io tool.
9. The complete history of Gondar: Africa’s city of castles (1636-1900)
Total comment counts : 4
Summary
The article discusses the history of Gondar, a city in northern Ethiopia that served as the political and cultural center of the country for nearly three centuries. Gondar’s architectural monuments and artistic production are considered significant cultural accomplishments. The city was founded in 1636, representing a break from the previous tradition of a mobile capital, and became a cosmopolitan metropolis. Emperor Fasilädäs, who settled in Gondar, constructed several churches, palaces, and bridges, creating a concentration of monuments. The iconic architecture of Gondar reflects a redefinition of Ethiopian kingship, emphasizing aesthetic experiences. The construction of Fasilädäs’ palace was influenced by Mughal Indian artisans, highlighting the diverse community of artisans involved in Ethiopia’s cultural revival. Despite its monumental character, Gondar was part of Ethiopia’s urban history, and other towns in the region played significant roles in the Gondarine administration.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article provides a URL link to a Google Maps location for the main castle complex.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author enjoyed reading about Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community, and hopes that someone finds Bodo’s lost letters to make their Saturday even better.
10. Marginalia: 3 Years
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
Marginalia Search, a search engine experiment, has become a full-time job and has shown great improvement over the years. The search engine has moved to a proper enterprise server and undergone code base cleaning and streamlining. The operational workload has become more manageable, and upgrades are now done with zero downtime. Adding support for anchor text keywords has significantly enhanced the search engine’s ability to find relevant results. The search engine’s development and progress have been supported by nlnet. The next focus is on improving query parsing and execution. The goal of indexing one billion documents is still ongoing, though the web’s signal to noise ratio poses a challenge. The author recognizes that the unplanned elements, like anchor texts, may have the greatest impact. The article concludes with gratitude towards supporters and users for making this project possible.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The writer highly recommends a bookmarked resource for finding specialized materials on numerical modeling. They believe that the information it provides on solvers, mesh generation, and optimization methods is much better than what can be found on Google. The resource even includes materials from the 80s and 90s, and the writer has discovered websites by professionals that they would never have found through a general search engine. They emphasize that access to this kind of knowledge, particularly in finding Fortran code examples, is extremely valuable for those who do not solely rely on commercial packages.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a website where someone made a binary patch to add IPv6 support to the game C&C Tiberian Sun. The author finds it nostalgic and reminiscent of a website called Fravia’s Searchlores, which had a similar feel to Umberto Eco’s interest in computers. The author describes Searchlores as a place where you could stumble upon incredible things, only to lose them later. The article provides links to both the patched game and the Searchlores website.