Why NVidia's Llama 3.1 Nemotron 70B Might Be the Most Reasonable LLM Yet

Earlier this month, NVidia released the Llama 3.1 Nemotron Instruct, a 70-billion parameter model that has managed to outperform larger closed-source models like Claude 3 Opus and some versions of GPT-4 on various leaderboards, including being the highest-ranking open-source LLM on arena-hard. This achievement raises questions about whether the model simply overfits or possesses a unique advantage in logical reasoning and creative writing tasks. The author, who uses LLMs for creative purposes such as roleplay, outlines specific demands that challenge the reasoning capabilities of current models: maintaining character consistency without revealing internal narratives, being proactive rather than reactive, and avoiding "powergaming" by allowing the narrative to unfold naturally through observable actions. While many models struggle with these tasks by falling into repetitive traps or revealing too much narrative, Nemotron 70b has shown remarkable adeptness in handling these challenges, suggesting it offers a new benchmark in logical reasoning within the realm of artificial intelligence, despite its relatively smaller size compared to other high-end models. This performance invites further testing and consideration for use cases requiring robust logic and reasoning capabilities.