10 Foundational AI Building Block Concepts for Testers and Developers
Written by - Millan Kaul
AI 101
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, and understanding its core concepts is critical for testers, developers, and anyone building or validating modern software systems. This post outlines the ten most important AI building blocks you need to know—each explained clearly and linked to practical, authoritative industry resources. Whether you’re integrating intelligent features into products or ensuring quality in AI-powered solutions, this guide will help you grasp the essentials and stay relevant in today’s tech landscape.
Here are 10 foundational building block concepts for a practical AI course, tailored for everyone with an emphasis on testers and developers. Each item includes a reference link for deeper learning in the table.
| # | Building Block Concept | Short Description | Reference Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation Models | Large AI neural networks trained on massive raw data, enabling broad understanding and generation tasks. | NVIDIA Blog - Foundation Models |
| 2 | Machine Learning Basics | Core ML concepts like supervised, unsupervised learning foundational to AI applications. | Microsoft Learn AI Fundamentals |
| 3 | Natural Language Processing \& LLMs | Techniques for understanding and generating human language using models like GPT and LLaMA. | NVIDIA Blog - Open Reasoning Models |
| 4 | AI Model Training \& Evaluation | Methods for training models, tuning hyperparameters, and measuring model accuracy and robustness. | OpenAI \& NVIDIA Open Models |
| 5 | AI Agents \& Automation | Building goal-oriented autonomous agents for tasks like software testing automation and decision making. | Reddit AI Agents |
| 6 | Responsible AI \& Ethics | Principles ensuring AI fairness, bias mitigation, transparency, and accountability in AI systems. | Microsoft AI Responsible Use |
| 7 | Data Infrastructure for AI | Data collection, cleansing, and pipeline management fundamental for high-quality AI inputs. | NVIDIA Blog - AI Systems Building Blocks |
| 8 | Generative AI | Models capable of creating content such as text, images, and videos, powering creative applications. | NVIDIA Blog - GPT and Generative AI |
| 9 | AI Development Ecosystems \& Tools | Platforms like Hugging Face, CUDA, and frameworks facilitating AI model development \& deployment. | Hugging Face Blog |
| 10 | Industry Collaboration \& AI Research Trends | Recent AI breakthroughs and collaborations driving innovation in hardware and software ecosystems. | Perplexity AI Blog Deep Dive |
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