The Ruby AI Podcast

In this episode of the Ruby AI Podcast, co-hosts Joe Leo and Valentino Stoll, alongside guest Amanda Bizzinotto from Ombu Labs, delve into the ongoing controversy within the Ruby community involving Ruby Central, Shopify, and Bundler/Ruby Gems. While both Valentino and Amanda share their perspectives on the situation, the conversation swiftly transitions into Amanda's journey and current work in AI and machine learning at Ombu Labs. The episode highlights various AI initiatives, including the creation of an AI bot to streamline internal processes, automated Rails upgrade roadmaps, and multi-agent architectures aimed at enhancing efficiency in Rails projects. Amanda also discusses the challenges of integrating AI in consultancy services and shares some insights on the tools and strategies used at Ombu Labs. The podcast concludes with exciting updates about Amanda's recent work, Joe's announcements on upcoming projects including Phoenix's public release, and Valentino's discovery of a new user interface for Claude Swarm.00:00 Introduction and Welcome00:26 Ruby Community Controversy04:37 Amanda's AI Journey08:45 AI in Business and Consultancy16:24 AI-Powered Tools and Applications23:09 Managing Knowledge Base Updates24:42 Prompting Strategies and Agentic Workflows26:02 Understanding Workflows vs. Agents28:37 Observability in AI Systems29:06 Advanced Prompting Techniques31:08 Multi-Agent Architectures34:32 Ruby AI Gems and Libraries37:09 Exciting Announcements and Future Plans41:44 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsMentioned In The Show:AI for Rails upgrades: FastRuby automated roadmapPGVector and Neighbor gemGuardrails.ai for hallucination control (https://www.guardrailsai.com)Microsoft Presidio for PII strippingObservability with LangFuse (https://www.langfuse.com)Prompting engineering techniquesChain-of-Thought, ReAct pattern article ActiveAgentLangChain.rbDSPy.rbPhoenix AI upgrade assistant public beta Oct 15 eventOmbu Labs roadmap tool live nowSwarm UI for Claude Swarm by Parruda Ombu Labs – https://ombulabs.comArtificial Ruby NYC meetup – https://artificialruby.aiShopify Claude Swarm project – https://github.com/shopify/claude-swarm

Valentino and Joe dive into the reality behind AI salaries, discussing the disparity between hype and actual compensation. They debate whether any company can truly dominate the LLM market, emphasizing incremental improvements over clear winners. The hosts explore the complexities of benchmarking AI models and the necessity for customized evaluation tools. New OpenAI features that enhance prompt engineering are discussed, alongside the balance between playful experimentation and standardization in Ruby, highlighting its role in AI development.

Chad Fowler, a veteran Rubyist and forward-thinking investor, joins the discussion with Valentino Stoll and Joe Leo to explore the future of programming in an AI-driven world. He emphasizes generative AI as the next layer of abstraction, transforming how code is generated. The trio debates the merits of Ruby versus Python, cognitive load within frameworks, and the balance between micro-services and monoliths. They also discuss the importance of manageable code and the impact of AI on legacy systems and developer careers.

Kieran Klaassen, a Ruby developer and the mind behind the AI tools Cora and Leva, shares his passion for AI and Rails. He dives into the creation of the Leva gem, designed for evaluating large language models, and discusses his journey in AI product development. The conversation covers best practices in AI tool creation, the importance of continuous evaluation, and effective workflow management. Kieran highlights the collaborative spirit of the Ruby community and the joy found in integrating AI into Ruby on Rails projects.

Obie Fernandez, a Ruby expert and Shopify Principal Engineer with 20 years of experience, joins Valentino Stoll and Joe Leo for an engaging discussion. They delve into the launch of Roast, an open-source Ruby framework for AI workflows. Key topics include innovative AI orchestration, the evolution of AI in coding practices, and the interplay between creativity and software development. Obie highlights the importance of effective prompting, navigating knowledge silos in AI, and the transformative potential of AI in both music production and tech.

Justin Bowen, a Ruby developer with 17 years of experience, shares insights about Active Agent, his innovative Rails-native framework for integrating AI. He discusses challenges in shipping AI, emphasizing the importance of context and real-world testing. Bowen also critiques the hype around AI, comparing it to crypto trends. The conversation explores the balance between open-source sustainability and monetization, community involvement, and the evolution of Ruby in the AI landscape, while highlighting exciting projects like Osmo AI and the upcoming Ruby AI hackathon.

Scott Werner, an author and creator of the Sublayer AI-agent framework, dives into the evolving landscape of AI in the Ruby community. He discusses the innovative 'generators + actions' structure of Sublayer and the quirky Monkey’s Paw framework that turns Markdown wishes into web pages. The conversation also explores the tension between AI and human input in development, particularly the challenges of AI code generation. Plus, Scott emphasizes how community engagement fuels creativity while adapting to the rapid changes AI brings to the coding process.

The hosts dive into the vibrant Ruby AI community, revealing exciting projects like Phoenix that enhance software development. They discuss the challenges and unique advantages Ruby presents for AI integration, contrasting it with other languages. The conversation shifts to the overlooked potential of AI beyond chatbots, emphasizing the need for adaptability in coding practices. Listeners will learn about measuring side effects in interconnected systems and how emerging tools can lead to creative solutions in the evolving landscape of AI-powered applications.

In this episode of the Ruby AI podcast, hosts Landon and Valentino discuss the exciting developments in the Ruby AI community. They explore three key gems: Ruby OpenAI, Raix, and Langchain.rb, highlighting their features, use cases, and the importance of evaluation methodologies like RAGAS in AI systems. The conversation emphasizes the collaborative spirit of the Ruby AI community and the potential for innovation in AI applications using Ruby.TakeawaysThe Ruby AI community is vibrant and growing.Ruby OpenAI is essential for integrating OpenAI's capabilities.Raix gem offers an object-oriented approach to AI in Ruby.Langchain RB normalizes AI provider integrations in Ruby.RAGAS provides a framework for evaluating AI outputs.Community engagement is crucial for Ruby AI's growth.Documentation is key for developers using these gems.Collaboration among developers enhances innovation.AI systems require robust evaluation methodologies.Ruby is at the forefront of AI development.Sound Bites"This is gonna be really exciting.""Join the Ruby AI Builders Discord.""There's so much cool stuff out there."