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Beyond LLMs: 8 Technologies Behind Modern AI Applications

An LLM can generate an answer, but a production AI application needs much more: retrieval, memory, orchestration, tools, data processing, and reliable execution.

TechByRahmat

13 min read8 hours ago

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When developers discuss modern AI applications, the conversation often starts and ends with large language models.

Which model is more intelligent? Which one writes better code? Is GPT better than Claude? Should a product use an open-source model or a hosted API?

These are reasonable questions, but they overlook something important.

A language model is only one component of an AI application.

Consider a customer support assistant that answers questions about a company’s products, checks order status, retrieves customer records, and creates support tickets.…