E761 - The Evolution of Reasoning in Small Language Models with Yejin Choi

Today, we're joined by Yejin Choi, professor and senior fellow at Stanford University in the Computer Science Department and the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). In this conversation, we explore Yejin’s recent work on making small language models reason more effectively. We discuss how high-quality, diverse data plays a central role in closing the intelligence gap between small and large models, and how combining synthetic data generation, imitation learning, and reinforcement learning can unlock stronger reasoning capabilities in smaller models. Yejin explains the risks of homogeneity in model outputs and mode collapse highlighted in her “Artificial Hivemind” paper, and it...