Function Calling: The Most Consequential Update to OpenAI's API

OpenAI just introduced Function Calling.

This is a killer feature! It's the most consequential update to their API since they released it.

Here is an example to show you how powerful this is:

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

Look at this question:

"What's the result of 22 plus 5 in decimal added to the hexadecimal number A?"

It's a complex question requiring adding numbers in different formats.

To solve it, we can combine functions with prompts. Here is what it looks like:

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

I'm going to define two functions.

1. One that knows how to add two decimal numbers.
2. The other knows how to add two hexadecimal numbers.

You define these functions as part of the Chat Completion call: pic.twitter.com/JGz8xym3Cv

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

The implementation of these two functions is not particularly interesting.

They parse the arguments and do the sum. pic.twitter.com/K9YtDvjrrM

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

This is the cool part:

I call OpenAI's API repeatedly until I find a "stop" reason.

Whenever the API finishes with a "function_call" reason, I call the specific function and pass the results back to the API. pic.twitter.com/86kfwzweOk

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

The output from the script:

• 22 + 5 = 27 (decimal)
• 27 + A = 31 (hex)
• The result of adding 22 and 5 in decimal, and then adding the hexadecimal number A, is 31.

GPT used both of my functions to compute the final result!

Here is the code: https://t.co/x2ef1MWySS

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

GPT will solve the prompt in steps.

First, it will ask me to call the "add_decimal" fn with the first 2 values.

I need to make the call. The API has no way to make the call by itself. In my example, I'm using a local function, but the function could be another API call or…

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

Here is a bit more information about how this example works:https://t.co/eLMoHq5MfD

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023

Yes, OpenAI took this from @LangChainAI.

No, this doesn't kill LangChain. There's much more functionality there.

But this brings the question:

How much more is OpenAI planning to lift from LangChain and integrate it natively on their API?

— Santiago (@svpino) June 13, 2023