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Transformers, the tech behind LLMs | Deep Learning Chapter 5

3Blue1Brown · explainer · Watch on YouTube

LLMs & generative AIMachine learning & deep learning

What it is

3Blue1Brown's visual explanation of how transformers and GPT-style language models work, tracing data through tokens, embeddings and attention.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN treats it as the go-to visual introduction to transformers, and many say it finally made attention and embeddings click.

  • 13 people recommended it
  • 10 different months
  • 6 strong recommendations
  • first 2024, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “3Blue1Brown is really a godsend.”

    Made self-attention intuition click for the commenter.

    BenoitP, 2024-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Visualizing Attention, a Transformer's Heart [video]”

  2. “3Blue1Brown has a fantastic video on GPT that I'd highly recommend”

    Visual intro to transformers needing modest math background.

    Wilduck, 2024-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Why can't ChatGPT solve Wordle-type questions?”

  3. “what bade me finally understand the transformer architecture [0] and attention [1], are 3Blue1Brown's videos.”

    Finally made the transformer architecture and attention understandable.

    tomashm, 2024-07 · Strong recommendation · in “The Illustrated Transformer (2018)”

  4. “It’s the first in a series of three that I can very highly recommend.”

    Explains how directions in embedding space encode traits.

    manmal, 2025-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Embeddings are underrated (2024)”

  5. “I really recommend watching this section of this video.”

    Shows embeddings encode human knowledge in vector relations.

    gf000, 2026-01 · Strong recommendation · in “King – man and woman is queen; but why?”

  6. “3 blue 1 brown has a great visual introduction to transformers, the heart of LLMs.”

    Great visual introduction to transformers; start from chapter 1 for background.

    robrenaud, 2026-06 · Strong recommendation · in “"They're made out of weights"”

  7. “Here's a great video that can help demystify GPTs”

    Demystifies how GPTs work.

    CharlesW, 2024-04 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: If AI can be creative, does this mean humans can be taught creativity?”

  8. “4/ 3Blue1Brown: But what is a GPT? Visual intro to transformers”

    Listed among better transformer learning resources.

    MAXPOOL, 2024-07 · Recommendation · in “The Engineer’s Guide to Deep Learning: Understanding the Transformer Model”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: transformers, attention, embeddings, llm, deep learning, visualization

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