🎯 Core Goals
- Extend the distance concept from words to sentences.
- Understand that whole sentences can be “close” or “far” in meaning.
- See how LLMs know what you mean even when you use different words.
Just like words, sentences can be “close” or “far” in meaning. “I’m hungry” and “Let’s eat” are close - they mean the same thing even though they use different words.
👁️ Visuals & Interactives
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Which sentence means something entirely different?
A) "I am starving right now."
B) "Let's go get some food."
C) "The sky is so blue today."
D) "I really want to eat."
📝 Key Concepts
- Beyond Words: LLMs don’t just map individual words; they map entire sequences.
- Example 1: “The cat sat on the mat” and “The kitten rested on the rug” map to the same region, while “Stock prices fell” is far away.
- Example 2: “I love my new phone” and “I adore my recent smartphone” are close in meaning. But “The phone rang at midnight” is far away, even though it shares the word “phone.”
- Semantic Understanding: Sentences that mean similar things (using completely different words) map to the same region in meaning-space. This is what enables “understanding”.
LLMs don’t match sentences word-for-word. They look at the overall meaning. That’s why they can understand “I’m hungry” and “I want food” as the same thing.