You are not an AI developer

Building an LLM from scratch is the modern-day equivalent of yak shaving. Focus on building applications, not the underlying models.

#1about 4 minutes

How science fiction movies explain modern AI concepts

Science fiction films like Blade Runner and The Terminator offer analogies for understanding AI behaviors such as hallucinations and prompt engineering.

#2about 5 minutes

Comparing deterministic and non-deterministic software development

While code itself is deterministic with version control and infrastructure as code, the overall software process involves non-deterministic elements like user behavior and cloud reliability.

#3about 3 minutes

The complex process of building and training AI models

AI models are programs written by computers that infer rules from data, but their development is a complex, experimental process often left to specialized researchers.

#4about 6 minutes

Why you shouldn't build your own AI model from scratch

Building a large language model from the ground up is a resource-intensive and unnecessary distraction, similar to building your own compiler just to write a blog post.

#5about 4 minutes

Leveraging AI as a new user experience paradigm

AI and LLMs represent a new computing paradigm, much like the smartphone, that enables novel user experiences by providing a conversational interface to existing tools and services.

#6about 2 minutes

Applying software engineering skills to AI integration

Software developers should focus on integrating existing AI tools and applying their expertise in testing, deployment, and maintainability to build robust AI-powered applications.