STORM: Turning Research into a PhD-Style Workflow

stanfordnlp · x · 2026-07-14

This interview highlights that **what truly matters is not the model itself, but the workflow you build around it**. Stanford professor Monica Lam's perspective is summarized: virtual assistants can be either your enemy or your friend. While many use Claude merely as a search box, systems like STORM attempt to turn the research process into something closer to PhD-level collaboration. Key takeaways from the video include: - Traditional "search box" interactions are just Q&A, which is insufficient for real research. - Stanford's STORM research system performs well in evaluations, proving that workflow design significantly impacts outcomes. - Future directions involve more natural interfaces, partitioning private knowledge networks, and allowing two assistants to exchange data directly, reducing the need for humans and companies to act as intermediaries. - A mentioned principle: avoid translating language into an intermediate layer before converting it to code; aim for direct execution.

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