Concepts
Fundamentals
AI, machine learning and language models. Which one sits inside which.
What AI is made of
AI is not one product but a chain. At the bottom sit electricity, buildings and chips; in the middle, data and models; at the top, the applications and whatever the customer actually gets out of it. Every part does a different job, is paid for differently and fails for different reasons, which is why they are worth understanding one at a time.
The ecosystem, layer by layer
Electricity and chips at the bottom, the customer's benefit at the top. Each layer does a different job and takes a different share of the money.
Layer 1
Infrastructure
Electricity, chips and very large buildings. Everything starts here.
Layer 2
Data
What the machine learns from, and why your own records are the asset.
Layer 3
Models
Training is paid for once. Running it is paid for every single time.
Layer 4
Applications
How a model becomes something that is actually of use to somebody.
Layer 5
Business
Who does what, who pays, and where the money finally settles.
Cross-cutting
Rules and responsibility
What the law requires, what ethics requires, and what has to be written down.