EP17: RL with Will Brown

In this episode, we talk with Will Brown, a research lead at Prime Intellect, about his journey into reinforcement learning (RL) and multi-agent systems, exploring their theoretical foundations and practical applications. We discuss the importance of RL in the current LLMs pipeline and the challenges it faces. We also discuss applying agentic workflows to real-world applications and the ongoing evolution of AI development.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Reinforcement Learning and Will's Journey

03:10 Theoretical Foundations of Multi-Agent Systems

06:09 Transitioning from Theory to Practical Applications

09:01 The Role of Game Theory in AI

11:55 Exploring the Complexity of Games and AI

14:56 Optimization Techniques in Reinforcement Learning

17:58 The Evolution of RL in LLMs

21:04 Challenges and Opportunities in RL for LLMs

23:56 Key Components for Successful RL Implementation

27:00 Future Directions in Reinforcement Learning

36:29 Exploring Agentic Reinforcement Learning Paradigms

38:45 The Role of Intermediate Results in RL

41:16 Multi-Agent Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

45:08 Distributed Environments and Decentralized RL

49:31 Prompt Optimization Techniques in RL

52:25 Statistical Rigor in Evaluations

55:49 Future Directions in Reinforcement Learning

59:50 Task-Specific Models vs. General Models

01:02:04 Insights on Random Verifiers and Learning Dynamics

01:04:39 Real-World Applications of RL and Evaluation Challenges

01:05:58 Prime RL Framework: Goals and Trade-offs

01:10:38 Open Source vs. Closed Source Models

01:13:08 Continuous Learning and Knowledge Improvement

Music:

"Kid Kodi" — Blue Dot Sessions — via Free Music Archive — CC BY-NC 4.0.

"Palms Down" — Blue Dot Sessions — via Free Music Archive — CC BY-NC 4.0.

Changes: trimmed