- Kurt Vonnegut, a celebrated American author,
once beautifully captured the essence of storytelling
by stating that every story has a shape,
almost like a pattern you can trace.
This narrative idea is something you've also heard of
as the hero's journey, perhaps.
Well, anyways, Vonnegut had this idea,
a very liberal, artsy idea
that stories come in specific shapes, specific plots.
We all know them. They embody the history of humankind.
Remember that the liberal arts
emphasize the importance of clear communication
and clear narratives, which AI systems need
to process information effectively as well.
By presenting information
with a clear beginning, middle, and end,
we enable the AI to follow the story
and provide more accurate and coherent responses.
Vonnegut's wisdom reminds us of the humanities
have a revived relevance today in the tech universe
because the narrative starts,
it goes, maybe there's an obstacle,
and it comes back to another story.
That's like running a large language model prompt, right?
So this course has been a little example of that tradition
by mixing coding with a cooking experience
with all these physical objects
that you might recall later this month,
or even better throughout the year.
You're part of the story.
Plus, maybe you'll look at your range
or toaster a little differently
having visited the cozy AI kitchen with me.
Because whenever we have components
around which a story can get built,
we more quickly make sense of things.
And when we can do that,
it's clear and we know what to do next.
We want more predictability. We get it through stories.
Just remember the story, two blades of the scissors,
one is cognition, the other is context.
You put the two together and you get powerful AI energy.