Just got back from UNPARSED and I wanted to share a big thanks to Kane Simms, Tom Hewitson, and the rest of the VUX World crew for putting on such a great conference! It was wonderful to be back in the conversational AI and voice world, reconnecting with so many brilliant minds.
Attending, one thing became clearer than ever: flow charts and directed dialog, the long-standing norms for dialog design, just don’t cut it in the age of LLMs. For years, we’ve tried to hammer Intents into these structures, like jamming round pegs into square holes. But with LLMs, the peg shape is a complete mystery!
Flow charts have been our go-to for ages—simple, structured, and great for predictable interactions. When intents came along, we forced them into this framework, often with mixed results. Now, LLMs are here, bringing a whole new level of complexity and flexibility that these old-school methods simply can't handle. It’s like trying to fit a dynamic, nuanced conversation into a rigid, predefined mold—frustrating and impractical.
Some folks are looking to state machines to solve these issues. As one of the original authors of SCXML, I can attest to how its complexity ballooned, making it clear that it wasn't the right approach for practical dialog design. State machines, while theoretically sound, often become overwhelmingly complex and impractical for real-world applications. Admittedly, I haven’t delved deeply into the latest state machine-based systems, so take my reaction with a grain of salt—it could just be my PTSD from earlier experiences.
So, where do we go from here? We need to break away from old molds and embrace new methods of dialog design that truly harness the power of LLMs. It’s a challenging journey, but one full of potential. Ready to explore these new frontiers with me?
#AI #ConversationalAI #LLM #Innovation #Unparsed2024 #FlowChartsAreOldNews #LetsInnovate