Episode 201:

AI Real-Talk: Uncovering the Good, Bad, and Ugly Through Prototyping with Eric, John, and Matt

August 7, 2024

This week on The Data Stack Show, it’s a RudderStack round table as Eric and John are joined by Matthew Kelliher-Gibson. Together they delve into the current state and future potential of large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI). The group discusses the hype versus reality of LLMs, their practical applications, and the challenges of implementing them in production environments. Drawing parallels to the early days of the iPhone, they explore the transformative potential of LLMs while acknowledging their limitations. The episode provides insights into AI’s evolving landscape, emphasizing the importance of understanding token limits, practical use cases, the integration of LLMs with customer data, and more. 

Notes:

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

  • Current State of LLMs (1:12)
  • Historical Analogy to the iPhone (3:32)
  • Limitations of Early iPhones (5:02)
  • Comparing LLMs to Historical Technologies (6:08)
  • Skepticism About LLM Capabilities (9:11)
  • Broad Nature of AI Innovations (10:12)
  • User Input Challenges (14:32)
  • Transcription and Unstructured Data (16:19)
  • Single Player vs. Multiplayer Experiences with LLMs (18:50)
  • Revenue Insights from ChatGPT (20:27)
  • Contextual Use of LLMs in Development (23:43)
  • Implications of Human Involvement (26:15)
  • The Role of Human Feedback (29:19)
  • Customer Data Management and LLMs (31:25)
  • Streamlining Data Engineering Processes (34:24)
  • Prototyping Content Recommendations (37:42)
  • Summarizing Content for LLMs (39:51)
  • Challenges with Output Quality (41:18)
  • Data Formatting for Marketing Use (43:20)
  • Efficient Workflow Integration (46:20)
  • Exploring New Prototyping Techniques (50:56)
  • Distance Metrics for Improved Relevance (53:00)
  • Improving Search Techniques (56:46)
  • Utilizing LLMs in Customer Data (59:15)
  • Challenges in Customer Data Processing (1:01:10)
  • Final thoughts and takeaways (1:02:12)

 

The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, the CDP for developers. Each week we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.