What’s on the Temperature & Sampling poster
A 6-row table: Parameter · Range · Effect.
Typical ranges. Defaults are sensible for most work.
- Temperature — 0–2 — Flattens or sharpens the probabilities
- Top-p (nucleus) — 0–1 — Samples from the top mass only
- Top-k — 1–100 — Samples from the k likeliest tokens
- Frequency penalty — 0–2 — Discourages repeating tokens
- Presence penalty — 0–2 — Discourages repeating topics
- Max tokens — varies — Caps the output length
Low temperature for extraction, classification and code. Higher for brainstorming and drafting. Zero is not quite deterministic.
Questions about the Temperature & Sampling poster
- What’s on the Temperature & Sampling poster?
- A 6-row table: Parameter · Range · Effect. Typical ranges. Defaults are sensible for most work. Temperature — 0–2 — Flattens or sharpens the probabilities; Top-p (nucleus) — 0–1 — Samples from the top mass only; Top-k — 1–100 — Samples from the k likeliest tokens; Frequency penalty — 0–2 — Discourages repeating tokens; Presence penalty — 0–2 — Discourages repeating topics; Max tokens — varies — Caps the output length. Low temperature for extraction, classification and code. Higher for brainstorming and drafting. Zero is not quite deterministic.
- Who is the Temperature & Sampling poster for?
- Temperature & Sampling belongs to the Computing section rather than to a school year, because computing is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning ai & ml can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Temperature & Sampling poster?
- Change one at a time. Temperature and top-p do overlapping jobs and interact confusingly. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Temperature & Sampling belongs on the wall where that computing work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Temperature & Sampling?
- Embeddings, Evaluating AI Output and LLM Vocabulary sit alongside Temperature & Sampling in the Computing section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.EmbeddingsEvaluating AI OutputLLM Vocabulary
- Is the Temperature & Sampling poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Temperature & Sampling downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Computing section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Temperature & Sampling poster print at?
- Temperature & Sampling is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Temperature & Sampling loses nothing.Printing guide
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Charts that sit alongside Temperature & Sampling on the same wall.
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