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Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by ffsm8 on Sunday January 18, 2026 @03:18AM (#46665840)
It's mind boggling if you think about the fact they're essential "just" statistical models

It really contextualizes the old wisdom of Pythagoras that everything can be represented as numbers / math is the ultimate truth

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by GrowingSideways on Sunday January 18, 2026 @04:06AM (#46666136)
How so? Truth is naturally an apriori concept; you don't need a chatbot to reach this conclusion.
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by glemion43 on Sunday January 18, 2026 @04:33AM (#46666276)
They are not just statistical models

They create concepts in latent space which is basically compression which forces this

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by jrmg on Sunday January 18, 2026 @10:20AM (#46668492)
You’re describing a complex statistical model.
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by glemion43 on Sunday January 18, 2026 @02:06PM (#46671049)
Debatable I would argue. It's definitely not 'just a statistical model's and I would argue that the compression into this space fixes potential issues differently than just statistics.

But I'm not a mathematics expert if this is the real official definition I'm fine with it. But are you though?

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by inimino on Sunday January 18, 2026 @07:30PM (#46673685)
I am, and yes, that's what a statistical model is.
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by mmooss on Sunday January 18, 2026 @11:13AM (#46668975)
What is "latent space"? I'm wary of metamagical descriptions of technology that's in a hype cycle.
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by AIorNot on Sunday January 18, 2026 @12:44PM (#46670068)
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by DoctorOetker on Sunday January 18, 2026 @12:56PM (#46670211)
its a statistical term, a latent variable is one that is either known to exist, or believed to exist, and then estimated.

consider estimating the position of an object from noisy readings. One presumes that position to exist in some sense, and then one can estimate it by combining multiple measurements, increasing positioning resolution.

its any variable that is postulated or known to exist, and for which you run some fitting procedure

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by glemion43 on Sunday January 18, 2026 @02:03PM (#46671012)
I'm disappointed that you had to add the 'metamagical' to your question tbh

It doesn't matter if ai is in a hype cycle or not it doesn't change how a technology works.

Check out the yt videos from 1blue3brown he explains LLMs quite well. .your first step is the word embedding this vector space represents the relationship between words. Father - grandfather. The vector which makes a father a grandfather is the same vector as mother to grandmother.

You the use these word vectors in the attention layer to create a n dimensional space aka latent space which basically reflects a 'world' the LLM walks through. This makes the 'magic' of LLMs.

Basically a form of compression by having higher dimensions reflecting kind a meaning.

Your brain does the same thing. It can't store pixels so when you go back to some childhood environment like your old room, you remember it in some efficient (brain efficient) way. Like the 'feeling' of it.

That's also the reason why an LLM is not just some statistical parrot.

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by mmooss on Sunday January 18, 2026 @03:27PM (#46671814)
> It doesn't matter if ai is in a hype cycle or not it doesn't change how a technology works.

It does change what people say about it. Our words are not reality itself; the map is not the territory.

Are you saying people should take everything said about LLMs at face value?

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by glemion43 on Sunday January 18, 2026 @05:09PM (#46672662)
Being dismissive of technical terms on hn because something seems to be a hype is really weird.

It's the reason why I'm here because we discuss more technically about technology

Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by mmooss on Sunday January 18, 2026 @10:33PM (#46674753)
I wasn't dismissive, just wary. As a new account, it's odd to be lecturing people on behavior. You're the one diverting the conversation.
Re:Erdos 281 solved with ChatGPT 5.2 Pro by glemion43 on Monday January 19, 2026 @02:12AM (#46675846)
I'm in hn for 10 years.

I spend too much time here and decided to delete my account to interact less.

It's partially working though