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← Pre-training is a crappy evolution: the practically buildable…
17 connected korrents · 17 moments on record from 1 Oct 2023 to 3 Sept 2026. Nearly all of them are about reinforcement learning .
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benchmarks Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Read this korrent: Pre-training is a crappy evolution: the practically buildable substitute for the process that gave animals their built-in hardware. Pre-training is a crappy evolution: the practically buildable substitute for the process that gave animals their built-in hardware. Last stated 11 months ago
17 Oct 2025
AK
Andrej Karpathy — holds since 2025-10-17 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Models resemble each other because pre-training is the same everywhere; what differentiates labs now is RL and post-training. — tap to centre the map on it Models resemble each other because pre-training is the same everywhere; what differentiates labs now is RL and post-training. Last stated 9 months ago
25 Nov 2025
IS
Ilya Sutskever — holds since 2025-11-25 — tap for who they are
Same subject: One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for. — tap to centre the map on it One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for. Last stated 4 weeks ago
12 Aug 2026
CF
Chelsea Finn — holds since 2026-08-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: RL environments exist to make a model generalise, not to teach it each skill one at a time — exactly as pre-training does. — tap to centre the map on it RL environments exist to make a model generalise, not to teach it each skill one at a time — exactly as pre-training does. Last stated 7 months ago
13 Feb 2026
DA
Dario Amodei — holds since 2026-02-13 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A verifiable task can be optimised by reinforcement learning until a neural network performs it extremely well. — tap to centre the map on it A verifiable task can be optimised by reinforcement learning until a neural network performs it extremely well. Last stated 10 months ago
17 Nov 2025
AK
Andrej Karpathy — holds since 2025-11-17 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Capability does not generalise for free: a model that will move mountains on an agentic task still tells the same bad joke it told five years ago. — tap to centre the map on it Capability does not generalise for free: a model that will move mountains on an agentic task still tells the same bad joke it told five years ago. Last stated 6 months ago
20 Mar 2026
AK
Andrej Karpathy — holds since 2026-03-20 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Humans barely use reinforcement learning for intelligence — what RL they do use goes into motor tasks, not problem solving. — tap to centre the map on it Humans barely use reinforcement learning for intelligence — what RL they do use goes into motor tasks, not problem solving. Last stated 11 months ago
17 Oct 2025
AK
Andrej Karpathy — holds since 2025-10-17 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Humans keep their place in AI as judges rather than authors, because telling which of two answers is better is far easier than writing a good one. — tap to centre the map on it Humans keep their place in AI as judges rather than authors, because telling which of two answers is better is far easier than writing a good one. Last stated 2 years ago
3 Feb 2025
NL
Nathan Lambert — holds since 2025-02-03 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Large language models mimic what people say to do rather than work out what to do, which is why they are not about understanding the world. — tap to centre the map on it Large language models mimic what people say to do rather than work out what to do, which is why they are not about understanding the world. Last stated 11 months ago
26 Sept 2025
RS
Richard Sutton — holds since 2025-09-26 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas. — tap to centre the map on it A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas. Last stated 3 years ago
1 Oct 2023
TC
Tyler Cowen — holds since 2023-10-01 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it. — tap to centre the map on it A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it. Last stated a year ago
6 Apr 2025
MH
Molson Hart — holds since 2025-04-06 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases. — tap to centre the map on it A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases. Last stated a month ago
3 Aug 2026
DD
Dmitri Dolgov — holds since 2026-08-03 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A language model is no substitute for a well-specified conventional algorithm, so it cannot simply be dropped into a complex problem and trusted. — tap to centre the map on it A language model is no substitute for a well-specified conventional algorithm, so it cannot simply be dropped into a complex problem and trusted. Last stated a year ago
7 Jun 2025
GM
Gary Marcus — holds since 2025-06-07 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A language model is not using language at all, because language requires an intention to communicate. — tap to centre the map on it A language model is not using language at all, because language requires an intention to communicate. Last stated 2 years ago
31 Aug 2024
TC
Ted Chiang — holds since 2024-08-31 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A language model's apparent mind is mostly our own bias: it predicts text, and leverages our evolved habit of attributing intentionality to anything that acts human. — tap to centre the map on it A language model's apparent mind is mostly our own bias: it predicts text, and leverages our evolved habit of attributing intentionality to anything that acts human. Last stated 2 years ago
22 Apr 2024
SC
Sean Carroll — holds since 2024-04-22 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year. — tap to centre the map on it A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year. Last stated 5 days ago
3 Sept 2026
DR
Dax Raad — holds since 2026-09-03 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost. — tap to centre the map on it A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost. Last stated 5 months ago
1 Apr 2026
TP
Thuan Pham — holds since 2026-04-01 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A speed difference between languages that share the LLVM backend measures the benchmark author, not the languages. — tap to centre the map on it A speed difference between languages that share the LLVM backend measures the benchmark author, not the languages. Last stated a year ago
22 Mar 2025
TH
ThePrimeagen — holds since 2025-03-22 — tap for who they are
At the centre
Pre-training is a crappy evolution: the practically buildable substitute for the process that gave animals their built-in hardware.
Holds Read this korrent →
Models resemble each other because pre-training is the same everywhere; what differentiates labs now is RL and post-training.
Holds IS Ilya Sutskever
One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for.
Holds CF Chelsea Finn
RL environments exist to make a model generalise, not to teach it each skill one at a time — exactly as pre-training does.
Holds DA Dario Amodei
A verifiable task can be optimised by reinforcement learning until a neural network performs it extremely well.
Holds
Capability does not generalise for free: a model that will move mountains on an agentic task still tells the same bad joke it told five years ago.
Holds
Humans barely use reinforcement learning for intelligence — what RL they do use goes into motor tasks, not problem solving.
Holds
Humans keep their place in AI as judges rather than authors, because telling which of two answers is better is far easier than writing a good one.
Holds NL Nathan Lambert
Large language models mimic what people say to do rather than work out what to do, which is why they are not about understanding the world.
Holds RS Richard Sutton
A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas.
Holds TC Tyler Cowen
A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it.
Holds MH Molson Hart
A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases.
Holds DD Dmitri Dolgov
A language model is no substitute for a well-specified conventional algorithm, so it cannot simply be dropped into a complex problem and trusted.
Holds GM Gary Marcus
A language model is not using language at all, because language requires an intention to communicate.
Holds TC Ted Chiang
A language model's apparent mind is mostly our own bias: it predicts text, and leverages our evolved habit of attributing intentionality to anything that acts human.
Holds SC Sean Carroll
A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year.
Holds
A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost.
Holds TP Thuan Pham
A speed difference between languages that share the LLVM backend measures the benchmark author, not the languages.
Holds TH ThePrimeagen