[geraneum]

This has become a common recurrence recently.

Have a problem with clear definition and evaluation function. Let LLM reduce the size of solution space. LLMs are very good at pattern reconstruction, and if the solution has a similar pattern to what was known before, it can work very well.

In this case the problem is a specific type of security vulnerability and the evaluator is the expert. This is similar in spirit to other recent endeavors where LLMs are used in genetic optimization; on a different scale.

Here’s an interesting read on “Mathematical discoveries from program search with large language models” which was I believe was also featured in HN the past:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06924-6

One small note, concluding that the LLM is “reasoning” about code just _based on this experiment_ is bit of a stretch IMHO.