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The Pragmatic Engineer

AI Engineering with Chip Huyen

Feb 5, 2025
Chip Huyen, a computer scientist and author with experience at Netflix and NVIDIA, joins the conversation to explore AI Engineering. They discuss how AI Engineering differs from Machine Learning Engineering and express caution over fine-tuning tactics. The episode highlights practical steps to build AI applications and emphasizes the value of structured learning paired with project-based methods. Chip also shares insights into deploying AI for customer service and the importance of human oversight in integrating AI into business processes.
01:14:44

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • AI engineering democratizes access to machine learning by allowing developers to use APIs, shifting focus from deep expertise to efficient application development.
  • The distinction between AI engineering and machine learning engineering is becoming clearer, emphasizing product development over traditional model training and data handling.

Deep dives

The Evolution of AI Engineering

AI engineering is fundamentally redefining the role of developers in building machine learning applications. Traditionally, developers needed extensive expertise in data handling and model training, but new advancements allow for the use of APIs, significantly lowering barriers to entry. This shift emphasizes engineering and product development over deep machine learning expertise, enabling more individuals to contribute to AI projects without the prerequisite of data science knowledge. As a result, the focus is now on creating efficient applications rather than on the intricate details of machine learning techniques.

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