Sunday Morning Thoughts – November 24, 2024

LLM fun, language fun, snow fun, museum fun – just FUN!

Last week I think I left you at the station in Aarau where I quickly added a picture and published the newsletter. You won’t believe all the things that have gone through my head since then. Some have stuck, some have moved right through.

It started with how cool it would have been to be up in that cloud on Mt. Rigi. It was a gorgeous day in Lucerne. And while you probably read what I wrote about going up Mt. Rigi to get out of the clouds/fog in winter, this was quite an interesting turn of cloud fortunes.

I was picturing being up in that cloud. It must have been so cool. I’m still picturing the kinds of pictures I could have taken. Either way, it was a great time in Lucerne helping a friend and meeting a bunch of new people.

Mt. Rigi as seen from Lucerne - Nov. 17, 2024

Sunday night I was playing around with the idea of using my linguistic knowledge to help train AI. I started an online course on AI engineering. NLP is what I’m most interested in. That stands for “natural language processing”. So, as part of the course they told us to talk to an LLM (large language model) and pretend we’re learning a foreign language.

I went for Swedish and I had the most bizarre “conversation” with a random LLM (ollama). Not worried at all that AI will replace us. This was just too funny. It used a German word (“sehr”) instead of a Swedish one and I pointed that out. It then got all defensive and stuck in a loop of trying to prove that it was correct because German and Swedish are close (well, not that close). It didn’t understand sarcasm at all. Not surprised by that of course, but I couldn’t get it unstuck on the topic for what felt like forever.

Why did I pick Swedish you might wonder. Well, I wanted to see a not so well-trained LLM. There are not that many speakers of Swedish, so there is less text out there for the LLM to be trained on. I noticed that with Google Translate a decade or so ago. It was pretty decent with German-English translation; still okay with French; but with Swedish – not so much.

Granted my Swedish is not all that natural, but I know how to use natural linguistic markers and “it” didn’t react to those in the way you’d expect. I finally got it away from hallucinating bs reasons on why it was correct to use the German word “sehr” by starting to talk about German and Swiss German. It was fun. I mean it’s best to test these models on topics you’re an expert on yourself. Try it – it’s fun!

Yesterday I chatted with Microsoft Copilot about Swiss German. It was soooo funny. It did pick proper sources and the information was accurate, but what it really can’t give you is the human experience. The way Swiss people don’t like to switch to High German just because a German in the room doesn’t understand Swiss German. Seriously, don’t be THAT German.

How did I get here? Oh yes, somehow a YT video popped into my feed with celebrities that spoke another language. I got triggered by them saying they would not include celebrities speaking in their native language. I mean, doesn’t that also mean that English is their second language? Sorry, but that’s like … what?! And then they proceeded to show interviews with celebrities speaking languages other than English. I was shaking my head throughout. Bradley Cooper speaking French will never get old though. That’s pretty impressive.

Anyway, let’s talk bilingualism (or multilingualism) for a bit. Have you ever thought about how a bilingual brain works and why bilingual people are not usually great at translation without proper training? Well, our brains have to actively suppress the “other” language(s) while we’re speaking. Sometimes when we get tired or when there are other outside influences like freezing cold weather our brains are a bit slower and there is interference.

Have you noticed that when you speak English to a non-native speaker, there is sometimes a very short pause before they start speaking? That’s like when a train engages its cog rail. Slow down and make sure it’s fully engaged before you start speaking. It takes effort.

No wonder my multilingual brain gets exhausted at times.

I mean I’m sitting on a train reading a book in Swedish (Viveca Sten – if you don’t know her, check her out!), people around me are speaking Swiss German and I’m chatting with a friend in English and another one in Standard German. I’m lucky if nobody speaks French or Italian around me.

And I think I figured out why speaking French and Swedish is difficult for me. I can write it okay, so speaking shouldn’t be an issue either, right? It’s my brain. It goes on strike. It firmly draws the line at three languages 24/7. Passively yes, actively with time to think (i.e. writing) yes – actively and spontaneously? Nope, no way. Not gonna happen. Brain on strike!

Something to work on.

I think all of you know that it snowed in Switzerland on Thursday. It was utter chaos. This is not a complaint. I’m more amused than anything else. So, here’s what happened. We were told it was gonna snow for about two days. There were weather warnings out and we all know that the first snow of the season means chaos on the road and on public transport.

Now, this time a good 10 inches of snow fell in a really short span of time. Snow removal crews were out in force but couldn’t keep up. Trains got delayed because switches got blocked and buses were delayed because of idiot drivers driving on summer tires. Also, buses ran out of battery faster – the electric kind - so they had to go recharge. At some point there were no more trams running in Bern. In Basel they had so much snow that people were putting on skis and going up and down some of the steeper hills.

The only public transport that was very much on time were the mountain trains. I always picture them laughing at the chaos a bit of snow creates down below.

Most people had prepared well. We all know to leave the car at home (if possible) and to plan on spending more time commuting from/to work. There’s always the odd idiot but generally people understood that this was nobody’s fault and that everybody involved was doing their best.

Thursday of all days was when I needed to get all the way across town for a job interview in the evening. Yay me! Excellent planning. I made it there with time to spare because I’d allowed extra time. It was the best interview ever. I mean they won’t hire me, but it was just a great conversation; possibly life changing. A lot to consider and hopefully share soon. Some things have already started falling into place but really too soon to share. Stay tuned.

Did anybody say “museum”?

Well, yes. I think it was me. On Friday I didn’t want to add to the chaos and decided to stay closer to home. I made it a museum day. I had a doctor’s appointment at 1 PM and the first museum opened at 10 AM. I only ended up going to two (instead of the four that are included in my museum pass). Naturama was first. It’s a natural history museum and it’s right next to my high school.

They currently have a temporary exhibit called “Cool down Aargau”. Aargau is the state/province/canton I live in. It talks about what we can do to cool down our cities and towns. There are models and interesting displays. It’s really well done and done in a way that school children will understand. I especially loved the model that showed how to place buildings in a way that cooling corridors can exist. They had little wind machines on one side, pinwheels on the other and in the middle you were meant to turn the buildings in a way that all the pinwheels would be turning. Such fun and educational.

I was there all by myself. A group of kids was in another part of the museum. Friday might become my museum day.

There was something that they said that really stood out. Apparently, in Aargau everybody can walk from their front door to a forest in 15 minutes or less. I was standing there going like “well, that sounds possible”. I’d never thought about that. Then I looked at a relief map they had and it seemed even more plausible. Only problem is that a lot of forests around here are up on a hill because the flatter parts are used as farmland.

This relief map is on display at Naturama in Aarau.

Relief map fun – can you tell where the glacier stopped from this picture? The inset is where I grew up. Our house was 1 minute from the forest up on the hill. Thought that was an interesting map to share.

I’ll go back to this museum for sure. There’s always something new to discover, even in the permanent exhibit. It’s not a very big museum but it’s amazing for children. And yes, I was asked if I had a child with me at the entrance. Maybe I should borrow one for my next visit.

I then didn’t know if I should go to the art museum or the city museum. City museum it was. I can’t remember the last time I went there – if ever. Yes, I know that’s embarrassing. What’s your point?

I loved the part in the old building with the tower. The smells in there reminded me very much of my grandparents’ house and especially my great-grandmothers floor small apartment. That triggered some memories.

Also one I need to go back to. I was aware of a lot of the history of Aarau but I’d forgotten about the “revolution” in 1789 when we fought against our occupiers from Bern. I knew this happened but the specifics? I’m not sure I ever really knew.

They do have a temporary exhibit on AI that really wasn’t for me. It’s well done and well presented, but I really didn’t feel like talking to AI on this occasion. Still highly recommend going there. Another small-ish museum but very informative.

I have so many more thoughts on forests, walking, outdoor exercise areas/courses but I’m already at like 1800 words. There might have to be another newsletter on those topics.

I do want to leave you with some snowy pictures. Yesterday, I went for a walk starting before sunrise. It was absolutely gorgeous. Here’s the video I made. I forgot to start relive at the beginning and also couldn’t remember where I’d started recording. So, the start and end of my walk are in different places. Sunrise was at a quarter to eight but I only saw the sun for the first time like 20 minutes later.

Three pictures you will recognize from the video. Those are from yesterday morning. Then there is one (bottom left) of the City museum in Aarau on Friday and the bus terminal one is from Thursday evening.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone. Remember to do something fun. Something that gives you energy. It’s important in times like these.

Hugs all around.