Comparison
Attention vs FlashAttention
Attention and FlashAttention are both common AI/LLM terms but cover different ideas. Here is a quick side-by-side.
When you would reach for Attention
Attention comes up when the question is fundamentally about architecture.
Translating "the bank by the river": attention helps "bank" attend more to "river" than to "money".
When you would reach for FlashAttention
FlashAttention comes up when the question is fundamentally about architecture.
Training a 70B model on 8K context that would not fit with standard attention.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between Attention and FlashAttention?
Attention: Attention is the mechanism a transformer uses to decide which earlier tokens matter most when producing each new one. It mixes information across positions by weighted sum. FlashAttention: FlashAttention is an algorithm that computes exact attention faster and with much less memory by carefully tiling the computation to fit in GPU SRAM rather than going to HBM.
When should I use Attention vs FlashAttention?
Attention is the right concept when you are focused on architecture. FlashAttention applies when you are focused on architecture.
Are Attention and FlashAttention the same thing?
No. Attention is architecture; FlashAttention is architecture. They are related but address different parts of the AI stack.