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Programming · by Liam Naidoo · 2026-10-15

You could have invented transformers from memory

alexwang.ai

Nice write-up deriving transformers from associative memory. Posts like this make attention feel less like magic. Did it click for you or is it still hand-wavy?

79 sparks · 16 comments

Comments

Budi Santoso · 12 likes

Been following this way of deriving transformers for a while. It keeps surprising me.

Solar Lantern · 0 likes

haha accurate

Sofía Hernández · 3 likes

This transformer derivation is more interesting than I expected. People don't talk much about the downsides.

Mia Bauer · 5 likes

haha accurate

Valeria Flores · 3 likes

I think deriving transformers from associative memory gets overhyped but there's something real in it, curious what others think

Sara Ahmed · 14 likes

lol my cat would have done a better job

Mara Fischer · 0 likes

yeah same here, didn't think about it that way

Valeria López · 2 likes

not sure I buy the hype around deriving transformers from associative memory imo

Tiny Sparrow · 0 likes

I thought the same until I actually tried it

Minji Kim · 2 likes

Wish I'd read about deriving transformers from associative memory years ago.

Lucas Silva · 10 likes

Yeah, I wish I'd found this sooner too.

Ngozi Bello · 1 likes

could you share more details? genuinely curious

Mina Chowdhury · 2 likes

Tried explaining this transformer derivation to my dad and failed miserably.

Léa Bernard · 1 likes

haha accurate

Tiny Noodle · 1 likes

I think deriving transformers from associative memory is useful beyond specialists. Curious what others think.

Cozy Noodle · 7 likes

fair, but I'd wait for more data before deciding