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by mutant 812 days ago
An LLM makes no sense to me in this use case. I don't know shit about investing, but machine learning has a place in analytics, but llms are about finding correlation in text. When I'm dealing with images, I use a convolutional nn, not an llm. Developing a finance model makes a ton of sense to me, but not as an llm. LLM can't even do math without writing code to do it.

I guess you see something I don't, which is not unprecedented. I miss lots.

2 comments

We are not using LLMs to replace the existing set of proven Machine Learning (ML) methods for extracting financial insights. Instead, LLMs play a key role in our system. They help reduce data overload and tailor the responses to the specific information an investor needs.

Consider a Bloomberg terminal - professional investors often spend days setting up their dashboards to see the right insights. With our system, investors can simply send natural language queries, and the LLMs act as a "glue layer" between the investor and the sophisticated quantitative models running behind the scenes.

Another major use case is screening. Traditional screening tools can be cumbersome, with hundreds of buttons and drop-downs. LLMs allow us to make the screening process more natural by generating the right queries from simple user questions. This is a more powerful approach.

In the past, sentiment analysis was challenging, requiring complex Named Entity Recognition, classification, and summarization models. Even basic 7 billion parameter LLMs now outperform hand-built classifiers for tasks like news sentiment analysis and SEC filings summarization.

In summary, our system is not just based on LLMs. It is a comprehensive solution that uses LLMs as a key component, alongside other essential parts like data ingestion pipelines and sophisticated quantitative models. The LLMs serve as an intuitive interface, allowing investors to access the power of the underlying financial analytics and lower the barrier to entries for all investors alike.

The LLM is used to power an interface that allows users to easily query and consume insights. It’s not what generates the insights.

* I’ve been working on the UI/UX of RAFA. Any feedback would be welcome.