Distillation debate: long-horizon tasks rarely benefit from copying frontier model outputs
JoshPurtell · x · 2026-09-03
In an X debate over whether a model was distilled, Josh Purtell argues that for long-horizon tasks like building a GameBoy emulator—assuming only a closed frontier model can complete them—reliably synthesizing rollout training data essentially requires running the frontier model end to end, with extensive hint engineering. He adds that single-shot simple tasks like those Shopify does don't benefit much from copying frontier outputs, unlike most long-horizon coding tasks.
More from Models
- Models can detect read-only probes with just last-two-layer SFT — Sauers_ · 2026-10-18
- Paying Google AI subscriber blocked: custom-domain Workspace accounts can't access AI Studio — ChrisRackauckas · 2026-10-18
- Running Ling 3.1 Flash (560B MoE, 25B Active) Across 4 DGX Sparks via llama.cpp RPC — BerryBlush_Rogers691 · 2026-10-18
- Users press OpenAI on long-delayed Adult Mode a year after it was promised — ___Patrice___ · 2026-10-18
- Polymarket opens betting market on who releases the next Gemini Argon model — Polymarket · 2026-10-18
- Grok matter-of-factly lists which groups user was racist against, exempting Africans and Latin Americans — teortaxesTex · 2026-10-18