Building Your First LLM App: A Comprehensive Guide

📖 TUTORIALS & CASE STUDIES

Building Your First LLM App: A Comprehensive Guide

read time: 15 minutes
This article provides a detailed guide on building your first Large Language Model (LLM) application. It covers the steps to build an LLM app, the emerging architecture of today's LLM apps, and potential problem areas to explore. The article also discusses the use of LLMs in software development, including the use of pre-trained models, customization techniques, and the importance of online evaluations.

Boosting Retrieval Augmented Generation: Choosing the Best Embedding & Reranker Models
read time: 15 minutes
This blog post explores how to optimize Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines by selecting the best combination of embedding and reranker models. The authors use the Retrieval Evaluation module from LlamaIndex and metrics like Hit Rate and Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR) to evaluate performance. The results highlight the effectiveness of OpenAI and JinaAI-Base embeddings when paired with CohereRerank/bge-reranker-large rerankers.

Optimizing RAG Systems with Small-to-Big Retrieval Techniques
read time: 15 minutes
Sophia Yang explores advanced techniques to optimize Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems in her blog post. She introduces the concept of small-to-big retrieval, where smaller text chunks are used for retrieval and larger chunks for synthesis. Two primary techniques, 'Child-Parent RecursiveRetriever' and 'Sentence Window Retrieval', are discussed in detail with implementation examples using LlamaIndex.

🧰 TOOLS

Gradient: Your One-Stop Platform for Custom AI Solutions

read time: 4 minutes
Gradient offers a platform for customizing and deploying AI systems, with a focus on private, fully controllable Large Language Models (LLMs). The platform supports multiple languages and uses state-of-the-art open-source models. It provides production-grade cloud services and allows for easy integration into existing workflows via developer APIs. Learn more about how Gradient can accelerate your AI transformation here.

Unveiling Ragna: A New Open-Source RAG-Based AI Orchestration Framework

read time: 10 minutes
Quansight has released Ragna, an open-source Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) based AI orchestration framework. Ragna provides an intuitive API for quick experimentation and tools for creating production-ready applications, enabling developers to leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) more effectively. It offers a solution to the challenges of prompt engineering and fine-tuning LLMs, making it a valuable tool for developers working with generative AI.

Introducing xAI's PromptIDE: A New Tool for Prompt Engineering and Interpretability Research
read time: 7 minutes
xAI has launched PromptIDE, an integrated development environment designed for prompt engineering and interpretability research. It features a Python code editor and SDK for implementing complex prompting techniques, rich analytics for visualizing network outputs, and quality of life features like automatic saving and versioning. The tool aims to foster a community where users can share and compare their prompts and analytics.

📰 NEWS

xAI’s first LLM Offering: Grok
read time: 15 minutes
Elon Musk's latest company, xAI, has announced a new AI model named Grok. Grok, built on a language model with 33 billion parameters, is designed to answer questions with wit and handle 'spicy' questions that other AI systems reject. The model's development raises concerns about the lack of guardrails that prevent AI from generating inappropriate or harmful content. xAI is also reportedly working on a coding tool using Grok.

Turku University and SiloGen's Initiative for World's Largest Open Source LLM
read time: 10 minutes
The University of Turku and Silo AI's LLM arm, SiloGen, have announced a consortium to develop the world's largest open source Large Language Model (LLM). The initiative aims to democratise access to LLMs and ensure European digital sovereignty. The consortium will leverage resources including a world-class LLM team, data resources covering all European languages, and access to the LUMI supercomputer. Read more about this initiative here.

Mojo SDK Now Available on Mac

read time: 7 minutes
Modular has announced the availability of its generative AI tool, Mojo SDK, on Mac. The blog post provides a guide on how to install and get started with Mojo on Mac, and highlights the tool's speed and efficiency. It also showcases community projects built using Mojo and encourages developers to join the Mojo community for further learning and collaboration.

How Will AI Enhance Platform Engineering and DevEx?
read time: 5min (additional watch: 24min)
In a recent episode of The New Stack Makers podcast, Wing To from Digital.ai discussed the challenges of scaling DevOps practices in large organizations and how AI can enhance automation in platform engineering. Digital.ai is leveraging AI to automate developer environments setup and create tooling for developers, aiming to generate more business value from software in production. Learn more about these AI-driven approaches in the full episode.

Boosting Workplace Culture with Automation
read time: 8 minutes
This article discusses how automation can alleviate 'toil' - manual, repetitive work that adds no lasting value - in IT operations. It highlights three areas where automation can be a game-changer: diagnostics, runbook processes, and self-service. By reducing toil, organizations can improve job satisfaction, retain talent, and foster a more innovative and productive workplace culture.