Why Rules Matter
Rules in AI are not just about setting boundaries to prevent unexpected or undesirable behavior. They serve a much more profound purpose: encoding human knowledge into the system. This encoding can encompass domain-specific knowledge, problem-solving strategies, or data interpretation guidelines. By embedding these rules, AI systems can operate more intelligently and align closely with human expectations and requirements.
Rules can guide how AI systems interpret, process and output data, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
For instance, in the Cursor documentation 'Rules for AI' explains how to customize AI behavior in Cursor using project-specific and global rules, allowing developers to control the behavior of AI models by providing instructions or system prompts. In Cursor, such rules can be applied to specific files or directories, offering granular control over AI behavior in different parts of a project.
Out in the wild, without Rules, agents can sometimes go off the rails or exhibit undesirable behavior. A simple but practical example is verbosity, where LLMs will sometimes use 10 words where three will do. Adding a rule to 'always be concise' will moderate this behavior very effectively. Similarly, adding a rule to 'never guess or hallucinate new information' is surprisingly effective.
rules=[
Rule(
type='Rule',
module_name='griptape.rules.rule',
meta={'griptape_cloud_rule_id': '067e7190-ea1a-42bc-9025-1a4218af2917'},
value='Be direct, concise, and factual. No trite/gimmicky language or hyperbole'
),
Rule(
type='Rule',
module_name='griptape.rules.rule',
meta={'griptape_cloud_rule_id': '940568db-12fc-4496-905e-1a6a1f615875'},
value='Never guess or hallucinate new information.'
)
]Griptape's Approach to Rules
At Griptape, we've taken the concept of rules a step further. Griptape Framework allows rules to be stored in systems external to the AI system and loaded at runtime. This flexibility enables you to build functionality for business users to manage rules without needing to involve an application or AI engineering teams, democratizing the process of AI development and deployment. This allows for more rapid testing and iteration on rules, helping you get better results more quickly.
Our framework's modularity and composability make it easy to integrate rules into larger systems. Whether you're building conversational agents, event-driven applications, or complex workflows, Griptape provides the tools and structures needed to implement rules effectively.
Griptape Cloud also supports rules, using them to control and guide the behaviour of Assistants and through the GriptapeCloudRulesetDriver providing a mechanism to curate rulesets and to share them between simple Assistants and powerful Griptape Structures.
The Future of AI with Rules
As the application of Generative AI continues to grow and evolve, the role of rules will become even more critical. They provide a foundation for building AI systems that are not only intelligent but also ethical and reliable. At Griptape, we will continue innovating and experimenting with the application of rules to AI development, ensuring that our framework and Griptape Cloud remain the best way for you to incorporate rules into your LLM-Powered applications.
Try Griptape
Ready to take your AI development to the next level? Dive deeper into the world of rules and AI by exploring our comprehensive resources and joining the Griptape community. Visit our Griptape Cloud and Griptape AI Framework pages for more information, and don't hesitate to reach out on our Discord channel for support and collaboration.
By embracing the power of rules, you can create AI systems that are not only innovative but also aligned with human values and expectations. Join us on this exciting journey and discover how Griptape can help you build the future.
The power and potential of rules as a component of LLM-Powered applications cannot be overstated. At Griptape, we've always believed that rules are a critical component of applications developed with LLMs as an underlying technology. They provide a simple, lightweight, but structured way to encode human knowledge into generative AI systems, helping to ensure that AI behaves in predictable and beneficial ways. This is why we've integrated rules into Griptape from the very beginning.