LLMs can see and hear without any training • Hacker News Board

Re: LLMs can see and hear without any training

#71

Post by saurik » Sun, Apr 27, 2025, 8:27 AM UTC

vessenes wrote: post #48

jorvi wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> zero shot I really wish we would find a different term for this. Doing something always takes at least one attempt, i.e. "one shotting". "Zero shotting" is an oxymoron, which makes it a term that only creates more confusion rather than succinctly conveying something.

I think of a shot as an example, not a try: “One shot” is “One example”. Zero shot is “Zero examples”. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it, got a better word for it?

I mean... how about "example"? I feel as if I were to give what you just said to someone a hundred years ago, with no context of AI training or even of the discussion, the very form of what your response leads to the answer "example" ;P.

The issue with "shot" is that it is a term and part of an idiom that has been used for a very long time and, critically, is relevant to the same problem space in a much more intuitive way: to count the number of shots shot, not shots seen.

Re: LLMs can see and hear without any training

#72

Post by bamboozled » Sun, Apr 27, 2025, 11:08 AM UTC

JoBrad wrote: post #15

EncomLab wrote: post #10

My photoresistor nightlight can "see" that it is dark and it "knows" to turn on the light - not only does it not have training, it does not have any code! And if you think that is amazing, my bi-metallic strip thermostat "feels" the temperature and then modifies the environment because it "knows" if it's hot to turn on the A/C, and if it's cold to turn on the heat - no training or code! All of this AI stuff is just u…

The nightlight and thermostat's response to stimulus is nowhere near analyzing a picture of a clock tower and responding with "Image of a city's tallest, historic landmark with a sepia filter." To me, recognizing the umbrella in the spoon is one of the most impressive items they list.

These devices are still "recognizing" something, which is quite interesting in itself.

Re: LLMs can see and hear without any training

#73

Post by qgin » Sun, Apr 27, 2025, 3:13 PM UTC

Emergent capabilities have been one of the wildest developments in software. For most traditional programmers you learn quickly and with great pain that the computer only does what you explicitly program it to do, no more, no less, and unintended behavior is a bug (and if you’re lucky, an accidental feature).

But the idea that entire abilities just emerge from scale… I still have a hard time accepting it.

Re: LLMs can see and hear without any training

#74

Post by vessenes » Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 6:06 PM UTC

jorvi wrote: post #62

vessenes wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think of a shot as an example, not a try: “One shot” is “One example”. Zero shot is “Zero examples”. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it, got a better word for it?

We already have a term for it in people, "intuited". When you are asked to intuit something, it usually implies an unfamiliarity with the subject matter. There is such entrenchment with terms though, it'll never get shifted to that.. and on top of that, it doesn't sound as interesting and dynamic as "zero shotting".

to be fair, it's also pretty long winded to say "pass @ 32 attempts to intuit" or "intuited after 6 examples"