Yintoni Ukukhishwa kwe-Text kusuka ku-PDF Akukho Hamba Nge-Hack-And The Legacy Design That Keeps AI Stuck

I-Developers esebenzayo ne-LLM isebenza ngokushesha ku-document analysis. Futhi ngenyanga ezimbalwa, kukhona isixazululo esitsha se-hype (noma ukuphazamiseka) mayelana ne-PDF problem. Phakathi kwezi zinyathelo, akuyona okungaziwa ukubona abacwaningi be-software abacwaningisa ukuthi indlela eyodwa ye-file format uye kwenziwa ngempumelelo esikhulu. Kodwa isixazululo akuyona entsha.

Ngamunye ngaphambi kwe-LLM wahlala umfanekiso, i-SaaS jikelele yasungulwa ngokuvumelana nokulawula ukuxuba kwe-PDF. Futhi okungenani elihle, kuyinto ifomati ebonakalayo ngokuvumelana ne-access eyenziwe, eyenziwe ngekhompyutha.

Uma isofthiwe uye asebenzayo njengama-Adobe Acrobat kanye ne-PDF format, kuqala ukujabulela njengama-part of the landscape. It is easy to forget that behind that ubiquity were real design decisions, constraints, and tradeoffs made by real engineers solving real problems. I-problems that, over time, evolved and became the roots of today's pain.

Yini, PDFs zihlukile. Kodwa ziye zihlukile zihlukile. Ngokuvamile, zihlukile isixazululo esivamile esihlangene isikhathi yabo.

Ngakho-ke, thina siphindezi. Le ncwadi ithatha iminyathelo embalwa ukuhlola izidakamizwa ze-PDF format: indlela yaziwa, izimo ezivela ekuphenduleni, futhi indlela izixazululo ezisungulwe ekuphenduleni kwama-1990. Umthombo: ukholelwa ukuthi akuyona kuphela "ngaba lokhu kulula?", kodwa futhi "ngaba siphindezi lapha?"

Ukuguqulwa kwama-80s, kusukela iphepha kuya ku-pixels.

Umhlahlandlela waqala. Amakhompyutha yekhompyutha asebenza ngokushesha, futhi amakhompyutha amaphepha akuyona imizuzwana. Software ezifana VisiCalc, WordStar, WordPerfect, futhi Microsoft Word esifushane indlela entsha yokubhala, ukuguqulwa, nokudlala.

Ngaphansi kwama-80s, PC suites babe zonke kodwa abalandeli isithombe. Abasebenzi abavela ukuguqulwa izifundo amaminithi ngaphambi kokufika. Abasebenzi abalandela "isithombe-ke-if" izinhlelo ezivela embhedeni. Abasebenzi abalandela izifundo embhedeni. Abasebenzi abalandela izifundo zokufaka nge-digital blueprints.

Ngaphezu kwalokho, izidakamizwa ziye kwenziwa indawo entsha yokusebenza. Akukho kuphela imikhiqizo ekupheleni, kodwa lapho umsebenzi kwenziwa.

I-1990s kanye nokuzalwa kwe-PDF.

Kuqala kwama-1990s, ukuthuthukiswa kwe-PC-based word processing kanye ne-file sharing ye-electronic yasungula imibuzo emininzi, kanye nokuvumela ezintsha. Yonke ikhompyutha iye iye i-fonts yayo, ama-printer drivers, kanye ne-layout quirks. I-report ebonakalayo emhompyutha eyodwa angakwazi ukucindezeleka njenge-shutdown ebonakalayo eminye. Ukudlala amafayela kwangena.

Ukuze ukuguqulwa lokhu, ngo-1991, u-Adobe co-founder John Warnock noqela wakhe waqala inkqubo ebizwa ngokuthi "Camelot" yokwenza ifomati ephelele kakhulu. Umphumela we-PDF, ifayela elihlanganisa i-fonts, i-graphics, kanye ne-page layout yonke endaweni eyodwa. Lokhu "i-digital paper" ivimbele ukuthi ama-documents zibonele ngokufanayo emhlabeni wonke, noma ku-Windows, i-Mac, noma nayiphi na ifriji.

Ngokuvimbela zonke izifundo, imifanekiso kanye nezifundo ezisodwa ifayela, amafayela ze-PDF zithumela abasebenzisi ukunikezela izidakamizwa ngaphandle kokufunda, futhi into etholakalayo ku-screen lithunyelwe ngokuqondile emhlabeni wonke. I-Adobe lithunyelwe i-Acrobat Reader mahhala ngo-1994, futhi eminyakeni eminyakeni, i-PDF lithunyelwe ku-go-to-format yonke into kusuka ku-manual ye-product ne-corporate reports kuya ku-government forms ne-academic papers.

Kuqala kwe-2000s, "i-export as PDF" iyindlela ye-one-click emangalisayo eminye imishini yokubhalisa, futhi izimboni ezivela ezivela ku-distribution, i-archiving, ne-compliance.

The PDF Design Trap

I-adjustment ye-PDF efanelekayo kakhulu (umthombo wayo we-pixel-perfect fidelity) iguquguquka isivumelwano esifundeniwe: i-containers ifakwe ku-strictly, print-first structure.

Ngaphansi kwelinye iphepha okuhlobene ngempumelelo kuyinto snapshot yedijithali, eyenziwe ukuhlangabezana ne-printer. I-headings, i-tables, i-paragraphs, akukho nawo ingozi semantic. Ukuze i-computer, kwaba kuphela ama-coordinates kanye nama-text boxes ezivela embhedeni.

Okokuqala, lokhu akufanele. Kodwa njengoba idokhumenti waya ukusuka kwi-desktops ku-web browsers, i-screens ye-mobile, kanye ne-pipeline ye-automated, ama-pipelines ziye zihlanganisa. Ingabe ufuna ukuthatha idatha enhle? Reflow umbhalo ku-telephone? Ukuphumelela isakhiwo se-document? Ngizodwa, okuhlobene okuhlobene kumadoda kwangaphakathi kwangaphakathi kwangaphakathi kumatshini.

I-PDF kanye nezinye izinzuzo ze-modernization

I-Adobe ayikwazi ukufinyelela kwebhizinisi. I-Tagged PDF (eyaziwa ngo-2001 futhi kwenziwa ngokuvamile ku-PDF/UA ngenxa ye-accessibility) inikeza isakhiwo se-HTML efana ne-HTML. Ayikwazi ukufinyelela ku-universal, kodwa iyatholakala kumadokhumenti e-government futhi isetshenziselwa kakhulu kuma-workflows yebhizinisi amakhulu. Amanye ama-milestones, njenge-PDF/A for long-term archiving, support ye-XMP metadata, kanye ne-2008 yokuthumela i-specific ku-ISO, zibonisa izinzuzo ezisebenzayo yokuqinisekisa ifomu. Nokho, ukuvumelela okuphakeme; Ukuhlobisa kunokwenzeka kubasebenzisi abaninzi, kubaluleke

I-ecosystem ephelele ye-SaaS iye ifakwe ukuze ifake le khulula. Uyakwazi ukufinyelela ku-heavyweights efana ne-DocuSign, ku-web-based PDF editors efana ne-DocHub, kanye nama-open-source libraries efana ne-Poppler, okuyinto abaphumelele kuphela ukuchitha umbhalo kusuka ku-PDFs.

Ngenxa yalokho, abacwaningi ezinkulu ze-cloud zihlanganisa wonke umzimba we-AI kulokhu: i-AWS nge-Textract, i-Google nge-Document AI, ne-Microsoft nge-Azure AI Document Intelligence. Umthengisi wahlala, imikhiqizo wahlala, futhi inani elikhulu lwezimali wahlala. I-Adobe, ngaphandle kokufanele noma akufanele, wahlala umdlalo.

Ukukhishwa kwe-AI-Native PDF Handling

Uma i-ChatGPT ithathwe, i-"i-PDF problem" ithathwe. Izinkampani zihlanganisa ukuhlinzeka idatha zabo ku-LLMs, kuphela ukuhlangabezana umugqa: iningi le ulwazi olungabizi lithathwe ngaphakathi kwe-PDFs.

Okokuqala, izinga lula: nje ukuthatha umbhalo clean for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Kodwa lokhu ngokushesha kuboniswa kakhulu. Ngaphandle ukucindezeleka layout, umbhalo evela kumasombululo wahlukaniswa, amasethi wahlukaniswa ezingenalutho, izithombe wahlukaniswa, futhi umklamo ebalulekile wahlukaniswa.

I-Document AI modern isitimela amamodeli ukubuyekeza ukubukeka kwe-visual ne-logical layout ye-document: ukuhlola i-titles, i-paragraphs, i-tables, ne-images. Ngakho-ke, i-AI ingakwazi ukuxhumana ulwazi, ukujabulela ama-headers / ama-footers ezivamile, nokufumana isakhiwo jikelele.

I-AI stack ibonise ububanzi obuphelele lokusebenza nathi. I-data extraction ebonakalayo manje inikeza izindlu ezingu-specialized:

• Ukubuyekezwa kwe-Layout Ukubuyekezwa kwe-Document Structure
• I-OCR yokuhlanza umbhalo kusuka ku-images kanye nama-documents e-scanned,
• VLM ukuhanjiswa ukuhanjiswa ngezinto ezahlukene ze-AI.

I-Irony iyathanda: Sitholela ezinye amamodeli amakhulu e-AI eyenziwe ngexesha elidlulile ukuhlangabezana inkinga eyenziwe ngama-30 iminyaka eduze ukwelashwa ama-documents njenge-photographs.

Nangona i-PDF yakhelwe ngokushesha, i-DNA yayo yokudluliselwa okokuqala ivumela ukuxhumana nezinsizakalo zokusebenza ngamunye. Ama-format eyenziwe, i-scanned noma i-photographed, ibonise ezinye izinzuzo ezivamile, kodwa isakhiwo se-PDF ibonise isifo.

Isinyathelo eside

Uneminyaka eminyakeni ye-PDF ayikwazi ukuchithwa ngenyanga eminyakeni, kodwa singakwazi ukuvikela ukuhlangabezana kwethulo. Ukuze izinto ezintsha, chofoza ama-born-digital formats ezihambelana ne-semantics ngokuvamile:

• I-HTML5 ye-web,
• I-Markdown-derived standard ye-docs zobuchwepheshe,
• noma DOCX/OOXML lapho Office ukusebenzisana kuyimfuneko.

Uma ifayela le-layout ye-fixed-layout iyakwazi ukuvikelwa, ukulayisha nge-tags ephelele kanye ne-metadata enhle; ezinye izixhobo zokubhalisa nazo zithuthukisa okuzenzakalelayo. Izinsizakalo ze-purchase ze-government okuyinto zihlanganisa ukunemba kwe-PDF/UA zihlanganisa izinzuzo ezinhle. Ukucindezeleka okufanayo kumakhasimende nama-suppliers kanye nama-regulators kungathuthaza i-tagging kusuka ku-" nice-to-have" kuya ku-"table stakes".

I-standards eside eside, efana ne-Portable Web Publication ye-W3C noma i-EPUB 3, kanye ne-containersized JSON-based formats ezidlulayo, ibonise ukunambitheka ngaphandle kokuqinisa isakhiwo. Ukusekela lezi ku-mainstream authorship tools (ne-educating users to adopt them) ngeke ikhasimende elilandelayo ukwakha amamodeli we-visions nje ukusika umbhalo kusuka ku-contract.

Umlando we-PDF inikeza ukuthi imibuzo yayo yayo yayo yama-designing eyenziwe iminyaka eminyakeni. Umfundiso akuyona ukujabulela ama-engineers abahlukanise inkinga we-1991; kuyinto ukujabulela ukuthi izincazelo ezinhle ezidumile zibe izincazelo ezinzima ezinzima. Thina siphinde i-semantics ekhukhwini, i-back-open, i-machine-readable standards, futhi ukuqinisekisa ukuthi umkhakha elilandelayo we-document technology iyakhiwa kumadivayisi kanye namakhasimende.

Ukuze amaqela asebenzayo kuma-formats ezivamile, izixhobo ezifanaNgena ngemvumeinikeza i-API-based pipeline yokuguqulwa ama-documents amangalisayo kuma-format eyenziwe, eyenziwe ngokufanelekileyo ku-LLM kanye ne-RAG workflows, efumaneka njengoba ama-endpoints e-hosted noma isakhiwo se-self-managed.

Ukukhangisa ukubuyekeza ubudlelwane wakho njenge-Tech Professional?

Ukusebenza kwe-Tech Audience AcceleratorI-newsletter ye-go-to ye-tech creators enhle yokukhula ubudlelwane yabo. Uyakwazi ukufumana izakhiwo, amasampula, kanye ne-tactic ezisekelwe eminyakeni yami ye-30M (ne-counting).