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ihateshadylandlords t1_j6iioib wrote

I asked GPTCHAT to make the summary in layman’s terms, because I couldn’t understand the abstract:

Parsel is a tool that helps computer programs called large language models (LLMs) better solve complex tasks. Normally, these LLMs have trouble with tasks that require multiple steps, like creating complicated programs. Parsel helps the LLMs by taking descriptions of the task in everyday language and turning it into code that the LLMs can understand. This makes the LLMs better at solving tasks like creating programs, planning for robots, and proving theories. Tests show that using Parsel leads to better results and more accurate answers compared to other methods. Parsel may also be helpful for human programmers in the future.

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ezelikman t1_j6kkch1 wrote

Here's another slightly longer TL;DR:

Humans solve hard problems by them down into parts and solving them part by part. We normally ask language models to solve algorithmic problems in one go (or if they revise their solutions, we expect them to revise everything). This has been known to be a problem for a while. It turns out, maybe unsurprisingly, that by asking language models to break problems down and then implementing subparts independently, we get way better results.

We do this by writing a programming language (basically, English with indentation plus a small amount of syntax for tests and references). We design an LLM-powered compiler around it to generate programs efficiently. We show it works on solving competitive coding problems, robotic task planning, and math theorem proving. We also show that it's decently robust - able to implement a bare-bones lisp compiler in a few dozen lines.

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starstruckmon t1_j6j4jxi wrote

Even if the LLMs themselves don't become perfect at generating Parcel psudocode, having a compiler LM that can reliably convert Parcel ( or something simmilar ) to actual code would be a massive win. Imagine coding in natural language psudocode. A high-er level programming language.

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ezelikman t1_j6kib8v wrote

>having a compiler LM that can reliably convert Parcel ( or something simmilar ) to actual code would be a massive win. Imagine coding in natural language psudocode

We made this available here!: https://github.com/ezelikman/parsel

And there's a notebook here: https://colab.research.google.com/github/ezelikman/parsel/blob/main/parsel.ipynb

Hopefully, there'll be a nicer IDE integration at some point in the nearish future!

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