The Pragmatic Engineer

AI Engineering with Chip Huyen

288 snips
Feb 5, 2025
Guest
Chip Huyen
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.
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INSIGHT

AI Engineering Focus Shift

  • AI engineering shifts the focus from model building to product development and engineering.
  • This is because readily available AI models via APIs reduce the need for in-house expertise.
ADVICE

Building AI Applications: Start Simple

  • Start building AI applications with simpler techniques like prompting and adding examples.
  • Gradually increase complexity with techniques like RAG and keyword retrieval, focusing on data preparation.
INSIGHT

Keyword Retrieval over Vector Search

  • Keyword retrieval is often a more effective starting point for RAG than vector search.
  • Vector search introduces complexity and cost, while keyword retrieval offers significant performance gains with simplicity.
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