semantic-kernel VS simpleaichat

There is an amazing sample on how to create your own LLM Service class to be used in Semantic Kernel. You can view the Sample here: https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/blob/3451a4ebbc9db0d049f48804c12791c681a326cb/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example16_CustomLLM.cs

This week, I had the chance to explore the SemanticKernel code base, particularly the core plugins. SemanticKernel comes equipped with these built-in plugins:

In this article we'll look at the high-level capabilities building AI orchestration systems in C# with Semantic Kernel, a rapidly maturing open-source AI orchestration framework.

I'm using Semantic Kernel (https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel) and it's really nice. Makes building more complex workflows really simple without sacrificing control.

A bunch of examples (https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/blob/main/dotne...) for how to handle just about anything you need to do with OAI with a lot less boilerplate.

I haven't tried it but there's Microsoft semantic-kernel.

https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel

Semantic Kernel github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel

The need for efficient model routing has been a point of discussion in the community. Addressing this, I've submitted a pull request to Semantic-Kernel that introduces an automated multi-model connector.

I checked both the issues mentioned, people have been respectful and showing empathy to author's situation

https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/issues/91

https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/issues/92

ChatGPT's June updated added support for "function calling", which in practice is structured data I/O marketed very poorly: https://openai.com/blog/function-calling-and-other-api-updat...

Here's an example of using structured data for better output control (lightly leveraging my Python package to reduce LoC: https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/blob/main/examples... )

So what are the alternatives to LangChain that the HN crowd uses?

I see two contenders:

https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/tree/main/simpleai...

https://github.com/griptape-ai/griptape

There is also the llm command line utility that has a very thin underlying library, but which might grow eventually:

A fun note is that even with system prompt engineering it may not give the most efficient solution: ChatGPT still outputs the avergage case.

I tested around it and doing two passes (generate code and "make it more efficient") works best, with system prompt engineering to result in less code output: https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/blob/main/examples...

I played around with simpleaichat for a few minutes just now, and I really like it. Unlike LangChain, I can understand what it does in minutes, and it looks like its primitives are fairly powerful. It looks like it's going to replace the `openai` library for me, it seems like a nice wrapper.

I'm especially looking forward to playing with the structured data models bit: https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/blob/main/examples...

Well done, Max!

https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat bills itself as a simpler alternative to langchain. I have not tried it, but it looks interesting.

I think you are asking specifically about practical LLM engineering and not the underlying science.

Honestly this is all moving so fast you can do well by reading the news, following a few reddits/substacks, and skimming the prompt engineering papers as they come out every week (!).

https://www.latent.space/p/ai-engineer provides an early manifesto for this nascent layer of the stack.

Zvi writes a good roundup (though he is concerned mostly with alignment so skip if you don’t like that angle): https://thezvi.substack.com/p/ai-18-the-great-debate-debates

Simon W has some good writeups too: https://simonwillison.net/

I strongly recommend playing with the OpenAI APIs and working with langchain in a Colab notebook to get a feel for how these all fit together. Also, the tools here are incredibly simple and easy to understand (very new) so looking at, say, https://github.com/minimaxir/simpleaichat/tree/main/simpleai... or https://github.com/smol-ai/developer and digging in to the prompts, what goes in system vs assistant roles, how you gourde the LLM, etc.

This notebook from the repo I linked to is a concise example, and the reason you would want to optimize prompts.