The Prompt Desk

In this one year anniversary episode of the podcast, your show hosts look back on what they have learned and observed over the past year. They made the following observations: Reflection on a year of LLM development: The hosts discuss how the LLM ecosystem has rapidly evolved over the past year, moving from initial hype to a focus on practical applications with demonstrable ROI. Changes in prompt...

In this thought-provoking episode, AI experts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin delve into the cutting-edge world of input validation using large language models (LLMs). The hosts explore how this innovative approach is transforming traditional data validation methods in software applications. The conversation begins with a look at conventional input validation techniques, primarily relying on...

In this episode of Prompt Desk, hosts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin dive into the evolving landscape of AI applications. They explore the shift from full automation dreams to the reality of human-AI collaboration, discussing why guided experiences are proving more effective than autonomous systems. The hosts share insights on designing AI interfaces, managing error rates, and the importance...

In this episode of The Prompt Desk podcast, hosts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin dive deep into the world of fine-tuning large language models. They discuss: The evolution of data preparation techniques from traditional NLP to modern LLMs Strategies for creating high-quality datasets for fine-tuning The surprising effectiveness of small, well-curated datasets Best practices for aligning trai...

Have you ever tried to run a prompt in another language and gotten completely different results? It is a sad truth that our LLM models continue to work best in English. It is something that will probably always remain true because of the dominance of the English language, which ensures that a disproportionate amount of the worlds data is found in English. In this episode of The Prompt Desk, your h...

In this episode, AI experts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macon dive deep into the challenges and best practices for safely executing code generated by large language models in a production environment. They discuss key security considerations, containerization techniques, static/dynamic code analysis, and error handling - providing valuable insights for anyone looking to leverage the power of LLMs...

In this episode, we dive into how companies can compete and innovate in the age of AI. We explore the limitations of simple "Generate with AI" buttons and discuss the need for more radical changes in AI implementation. Drawing from Clayton Christensen's work on disruptive innovation, we examine why large organizations struggle with adopting transformative technologies and suggest strategies for bo...

Are you tired of hearing about agents? Chat-bot this, agent that. It's the only way to apply AI that anyone talks about. But are agents the only way to use LLM technology? Is everything just converging towards conversational interface? In this episode of The Prompt Desk, your show hosts discuss a different way to use cutting edge AI in user-interface design: integrated advice. Using LLMs, we can p...

If you are using systems prompts, chat completions, and tool completions with OpenAI, you might find it challenging to get the model to follow your prompts. If you are like the show hosts, you often find that there are certain instructions that your bot just refuses to listen to! In the latest episode of The Prompt Desk, show host Bradley Arsenault shares with Justin Macorin the latest technique h...

Cutting-edge AI models use a lot of power. It is not uncommon to hear of data centers under construction that require the power output of the largest nuclear reactors all by themselves. Large tech companies used to tout their green credentials - now they quietly buried that message to pursue fortunes in generative AI. In this environmentally conscious episode of The Prompt Desk, your hosts Justin...

In this future-looking episode, hosts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin discuss how agents might communicate with each other in the future. Will agents be making HTTP requests to each other? Will agents dial each other up on the phone? Might it be possible that one-hundred years from now, all our AI systems communicate to each-other over plain-text UTF-8 Telnet connections? Brad and Justin disc...

In this thought-provoking episode, hosts Bradley and Justin explore the intriguing concept of using AI to write prompts for other AI systems. They delve into the paradoxical nature of this idea and discuss potential approaches to make it feasible. The hosts emphasize the importance of having a structured system and well-defined schemas when attempting to automate prompt creation. They argue that a...

Brad and Justin discuss the gap between AI's perceived capabilities and limitations. We explore common misconceptions about chatbots, discussing pre-defined tasks, integration dependencies, and the importance of clearly defining both what AI can and cannot do. Join us for insights on creating more realistic AI systems and managing expectations. --- Continue listening to The Prompt Desk Podcast for...

In this episode of The Prompt Desk Podcast, hosts Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin dive into the fascinating world of AI-powered networking bots. Bradley shares his experience creating and refining a bot that makes phone calls to schedule lunches and happy hours, using his own voice. The hosts discuss the technical challenges of building such a system, including voice synthesis, conversation A...

In this cutting-edge episode of The Prompt Desk, your hosts Justin Macorin and Bradley Arsenault explore innovative techniques for testing AI agents using synthetic data and AI-generated test cases. Discover how to create testing agents that validate the performance of your main AI agent, handle edge cases, ensure proper conversation realignment, and improve overall reliability and robustness. ---...

Explore the current landscape and future possibilities of AI agents with machine learning experts Justin and Brad. They discuss the trade-offs between specialized and general-purpose agents, the importance of domain expertise, and the potential for agent aggregators. The conversation also covers the standardization of agent-to-agent communication and how organizations may adopt and integrate these...

As AI agents powered by large language models become more complex, developers often encounter erratic and unexpected behaviors during testing. From agents falling into infinite loops to models struggling with certain data formats, these issues can be tricky to diagnose and resolve. In this episode, Bradley Arsenault and Justin Macorin explore real-world examples of AI agents going off the rails. T...

[Bonus] This is a bonus episode. We had too many unreleased episodes in our backlog, so we decided to give you an extra treat this week! Hope you enjoy it! Join the discussion on how AI agents can intelligently browse websites to retrieve specific information across links and pages. The hosts dive deep into techniques like embedding link text, URL paths, and accessibility attributes to compare aga...

Gain a better understanding of completion vs. chat completion methods for large language models. Get the scoop on why chat completions are great for building chatbots quick, but can sometimes go off the rails. Learn how to keep your model on track with slick moves like tool completions and throwing a "governor" into the mix. --- Continue listening to The Prompt Desk Podcast for everything LLM &amp...

[Bonus] This is a bonus episode. We had too many unreleased episodes in our backlog, so we decided to give you an extra treat this week! Hope you enjoy it! Dive into the world of prompt engineering for large language models like GPT. This episode explores the important role that non-technical subject matter experts play in developing effective AI prompts and systems. The hosts discuss how domain e...

In this insightful episode, hosts Justin Macorin and Bradley Arsenault chat with AI expert Abi Aryan to dive deep into the challenges of measuring the business impact of large language model applications. Abby draws from her 8 years of experience deploying and productizing LLMs to provide a comprehensive framework for defining relevant metrics. She emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap bet...

[Bonus] This is a bonus episode. We had too many unreleased episodes in our backlog, so we decided to give you an extra treat this week! Hope you enjoy! This episode explores the idea of making large language model interactions more transparent and immersive for users. The hosts discuss the potential of showing intermediate steps and outputs instead of just providing a final result. They envision...

Did you immediately try out the GPT-4o model as soon as it came splashing across your news feed? If you were anything like your show hosts, you quickly realized that it's just one step in the ever-evolving world of AI. This realization might have sparked your curiosity about the future potential of language models and their impact on various industries. In the latest episode of The Prompt Desk, yo...

Note! This is an episode that we found in our archive unreleased. It is one of the earliest episodes we ever recorded, but has so far gone not been listened to. It's not quite the same style as our current episodes, but we thought we'd release it anyway as a special treat for interested listeners! The podcast episode explores the realm of large language models, prompt engineering, and best practic...

In this insightful episode, hosts Bradley and Justin tackle the challenge of managing expectations when using large language models (LLMs) and AI agents for tasks like content creation and website interactions. They dispel the common misconception that these systems can produce perfect outputs right out of the gate without any human guidance. Instead, the hosts emphasize the importance of breaking...