https://signal-and-syntax.com/tags/context-windows/Recent content in Context Windows on Signal & SyntaxHugoen-usMon, 09 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0700https://signal-and-syntax.com/posts/how-large-language-models-know-things-they-were-never-taught/Mon, 09 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0700https://signal-and-syntax.com/posts/how-large-language-models-know-things-they-were-never-taught/When you ask an LLM without web search enabled a question like “What happened in the news this morning?”, the LLM will respond by telling you that it doesn’t have access to current events and suggest you check a more current news source such as Reuters or Google News. Conversely, ask an LLM with web search enabled the same question, and you receive a detailed rundown of breaking stories, political controversies, and sports news from the past 24 hours.https://signal-and-syntax.com/posts/how-large-language-models-handle-context-windows/Mon, 10 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0700https://signal-and-syntax.com/posts/how-large-language-models-handle-context-windows/When you have a long conversation with a large language model (LLM) such as ChatGPT or Claude , it feels like the model remembers everything you’ve discussed. It references earlier points, maintains consistent context, and seems to “know” what you talked about pages ago. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the model doesn’t remember anything. It’s not storing your conversation in memory the way a database would. Instead, it’s rereading the entire conversation from the beginning every single time you send a message.