Visualizing a modular addition transformer: 2k vs 20k training steps side by side

Sauers_ · x · 2026-09-24

A striking visualization of a modular-addition transformer: 113 possible output tokens are laid out clockwise by value, each ring representing a number being added, with color showing token logprobs. Comparing 2k training steps (right) to 20k steps (left) shows the output distribution evolving from noise into clearly ordered structure, offering an intuitive look at how the model learns modular arithmetic.

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