Days since Valentine's Day
A short story
Blog
Large Language Models are already conscious
... and this is the least conscious they'll ever be
Data Structures of a Large Language Model
A technical overview of the core data structures in transformer-based language models: the embedding matrix, stacked transformer blocks, and language modeling head.
Refining my mental model of vectors and cosine similarity
My mental model was that token embeddings represent points in n-dimensional space, and distance between points represents semantic similarity. Turns out that's not quite right.
LLMs from the Command Line: A DevFest Presentation
A recording of my DevFest DC presentation on using Simon Willison's LLM tool to interact with large language models from the command line. Learn about templates, embeddings, semantic search, structured data extraction, and how to chain LLM with everyday CLI tools.
Announcing imfapi: User-Friendly Access to IMF Data in R
New IMF API, new IMF API R library — part of the econdataverse initiative
Chat with the budget bill in five CLI commands with `llm` — mini-hackathon recap, part 2
At the July 5, 2025 Coders' Colaboratory mini-hackathon in Latham, NY. Developers had just one hour to find a cool use case for the `llm` command-line tool, created by Simon Willison.
Become a command-line superhero with Simon Willison's `llm` tool — mini-hackathon recap, part 1
A demo presentation I gave on Simon Willison's incredible `llm` command-line tool at the Coders' Colaboratory mini-hackathon in Latham, NY on July 5, 2025.
Use Claude Code in RStudio to ship R code like some kind of 10x tidyverse developer
All the kids are talking about Claude Code. Maybe you've heard of it. But did you know you can use it to write R code right inside of RStudio? No more messing with Cursor to try to get it to play n...
Comprehensively documenting how to work with IMF data in Python
Announcing a beautiful new documentation website for `imfp`, the leading Python tool for working with International Monetary Fund data
Create a realistic two-person podcast on any topic in under two minutes
Google's "NotebookLM" generates amazing "deep dives" on any topic you can listen to during your commute
How to use R with Cursor, the AI-powered code editor
Combine R's powerful features for working with data with Cursor's powerful features for editing code
Understanding the mutable default argument problem in Python
Learn how to avoid the mutable default argument problem in Python and how to properly initialize mutable objects as default arguments. Understand the behavior of mutable and immutable objects and how they affect your code.
Returning the last evaluated operand: A fun Python quirk!
Discover a unique Python quirk: logical operators returning the last evaluated operand. Learn how this behavior affects code execution, enables clever 'code golf' tricks, and provides intuitive ways to handle default values. Explore examples with 'and' and 'or' operators that might surprise even experienced Python developers.
How XOR Encryption Works
Explore the fascinating world of XOR encryption! Learn how this simple logical operator creates perfectly balanced output, making it a powerful tool for secure data encryption. Discover why XOR outperforms AND and OR in cryptography, and experiment with an interactive demonstration to see these operators in action.
Four prompting strategies to enslave AI chatbots as your creative writing minions
A prompting toolkit for fiction writers
It's (still) the economy, stupid
Overestimate the economy and gaslight consumers at your own political peril
Easily fire up a powerful AI chat model that runs for free on your home computer
Quickly install and run an open-source Llama model with vision capabilities on your personal Mac or Windows PC
Accelerate domain name availability search with ChatGPT plugins
Use ChatGPT plugins to quickly find available domain names for your website
A powerful tool for AI-assisted academic literature review
Elicit, by Ought Inc., feels like browsing PubMed, but with more power and a little less headache
On the possibility of emergent consciousness in a large language model
Could AI infer a "grammar" of consciousness from our language the same way it has inferred a "grammar" of reasoning?
How language models work, and what they teach us about human intelligence
Language models are statistical representations of human thought-space, with profound implications for philosophy of mind
Why we put an offer on our house at the asking price
If you've studied an asset and think it's too cheap, don't fool around with lowball bids or you'll expose yourself to adverse selection
Announcing the first complete R and Python libraries for comprehensive access to the IMF API
252 global economic databases with tens of thousands of indicators, accessible at your convenience
Generating irresistible social media engagement bait with Python and GPT
Let's create a Jupyter notebook for generating stunning cover images and writing engaging tweets!
GPT will transform every sector of the economy, starting with software
By massively lowering software development costs, OpenAI's large language model will kick off a small-business renaissance
Comparing sector returns since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic
One sector made the lowest lows from pre-pandemic levels... and also the highest highs
Debunking the myth that bond yields are still too low for the level of inflation
Accounting for time effects in forecasting 10-year US Treasury yield and S&P 500 P/E ratio from PCE inflation rate
Unleash the power of data visualization with ChatGPT and Python — no programming skills required!
5 Simple Steps to Using AI and Python for Reproducible Data Visualization
Can AI do improv comedy?
Playing pun games with ChatGPT
Comparing the two best AI image generators: Dall-E 2 and Midjourney AI
What each of the major AI image gen tools is good for and how to get started using it
A Knowledge Worker's Guide to the Singularity
A newsletter on staying employed in knowledge work through massive technological disruption in the age of AI
Copyright © Christopher Carroll Smith 2024