Track 5 · Intermediate

How Does an Application Ask an AI Model?

How apps talk to models through APIs, how to choose a model, how to write prompts and system prompts, and how to get structured, streamed and affordable answers.

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Modules

Each module explains one idea in plain words, lets you try it, then checks what stuck.

  1. 01

    From AI Models to Real Applications

    See the difference between an AI model and an AI application, and the layers an app wraps around a model.

  2. 02

    What Is an API, and How Does It Work?

    Understand how an app talks to a model over the internet: requests, responses, keys and errors.

  3. 03

    Meet the AI Model Ecosystem

    Get a map of who does what in the AI world: model makers, hubs, hosts, tools and app builders.

  4. 04

    Open-Weight Models vs Hosted AI Services

    Understand the difference between hosted, closed models and open-weight models, and when each makes sense.

  5. 05

    AI Benchmarks: How Do We Know Which Model Is Better?

    Learn how models are compared with benchmarks, where those comparisons mislead, and how to test for your own needs.

  6. 06

    How to Choose the Right AI Model

    Learn a simple, repeatable way to choose a model for a real project.

  7. 07

    System Prompts: Giving AI a Role and Instructions

    See how a system prompt sets a model’s role, tone and rules, and what makes one work well.

  8. 08

    Prompt Engineering: Asking Better Questions

    Learn what makes a prompt clear, and why every guess you remove from the model improves the answer.

  9. 09

    Few-Shot Prompting: Teaching Through Examples

    See how a few well-chosen examples in the prompt can teach a model a task, a format and a judgement.

  10. 10

    Structured Outputs: Making AI Return Useful Data

    Learn how apps get reliable, machine-readable data out of a model, and why asking politely isn’t enough.

  11. 11

    Streaming: Displaying Answers as They're Generated

    See how an app receives and displays an answer piece by piece, and the small problems that creates.

  12. 12

    Context Engineering: Giving AI the Right Information

    Learn to choose what goes into the model’s context window, because the right information beats more information.

  13. 13

    Understanding Tokens, Limits and API Costs

    Learn how tokens drive an app’s costs and limits, and the main ways to keep both under control.