--- date: '2023-03-13T20:08:35.475110' description: Musings on parallels between AI fiction and AI fact mp-syndicate-to: - https://brid.gy/publish/mastodon post_meta: - date preview: /social/4826d067b6064bf9b22c8288b4de616fde8053af2e0d4d3a09b74b729e60ea94.png tags: - ai - nlp - humour title: Deep Thought, Hitchhiker's Guide, LLMs and Raspberry Pis type: posts url: /posts/2023/03/13/deepthought-hitchhiker-s-guide-llms-and-raspberry-pis1678738115 --- Today I read via [Simon Willison's blog](https://simonwillison.net/2023/Mar/13/alpaca/) that [someone has managed to get LlaMA running on a raspberry pi]. That's pretty incredible progress and it made me think of this excerpt from [Hitchiker's Guide To the Galaxy](https://bookwyrm.social/book/181728/s/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-trilogy-collection-5-books-set-by-douglas-adams): > O Deep Thought computer," he said, "the task we have designed you to perform is this. We want you to tell us...." he paused, "The Answer." > >"The Answer?" said Deep Thought. "The Answer to what?" > >"Life!" urged Fook. > >"The Universe!" said Lunkwill. > >"Everything!" they said in chorus. > >Deep Thought paused for a moment's reflection. > >"Tricky," he said finally. > >"But can you do it?" > >Again, a significant pause. > >"Yes," said Deep Thought, "I can do it." > >"There is an answer?" said Fook with breathless excitement. > >"Yes," said Deep Thought. "Life, the Universe, and Everything. There is an answer. But, I'll have to think about it." > >... > >Fook glanced impatiently at his watch. > >“How long?” he said. > >“Seven and a half million years,” said Deep Thought. > >Lunkwill and Fook blinked at each other. > >“Seven and a half million years...!” they cried in chorus. > >“Yes,” declaimed Deep Thought, “I said I’d have to think about it, didn’t I?" Maybe Deep Thought was actually just an LLM running on a raspberry pi and that's why it took so long to generate the ultimate answer!