Aberdeen Python User Group 12 Mar 2025

Our latest APUG session at our new premises at The Soap Factory, 111 Gallowgate, Aberdeen.

"Digital Delusions and the Dirty Little Secret of LLMs." -Tim Clarke

Ever wondered why LLMs confidently spout fabrications as fact? Uncover the "dirty little secret" behind managing these digital delusions. Diving into the why from tokenization to training data. Then, explore practical techniques like RAG and semantic search to bring accuracy back to the forefront. Finally we will build a Streamlit-based semantic search tool to give you an introduction to the hands on experience of serving up the truth to your LLM.

Bio: Tim is driven by a passion for harnessing cutting-edge technologies to bridge the gap between humans and machines, transforming the way we understand, interpret, and interact with information. Holding an MA in Religious Anthropology and an MSc in Data Science, Tim has had a diverse career, initially working internationally in the Energy Sector before shifting his focus to tech, specifically Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Knowledge Graph techniques. In his current role at Katoni Engineering he looks at implementing digital technologies to empower the workforce.

After the talk we will have one or more challenges for you to attempt - so bring your laptop! 

If you don’t already have Python set up, we can help you with that too. Coding in pairs or small groups (especially mixing beginner and more experiences coders) is strongly encouraged, though you can also code solo.

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This is our first session in our new premises, which is still a work in progress. That means that our disability access is not what we want it to be. If you are uncomfortable, or unable to use stairs, please book an online ticket for the Zoom session. We are working to improve this but it will take a few months.

This event is orgnanised by a charity - Code The City. We suggest a small donation to help with charity admin costs, but if this is a barrier please just change the ticket price to what you can afford.

We're now back to running physical events backed up with an online option.

If you select a physical ticket and it happens that we can not meet physically you will have to attend the Zoom session.

Those attending the physical space meetup should attend at 6pm for pizza and drinks. The coding session (for online attendees) will be from 6.30pm. Doors will be locked from 6.30pm.

**If tickets are sold out please do not attend as you will be refused entry without a ticket. **

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