Level: Foundational Category: AI System Categories This term introduces the major categories of AI systems and what they are designed to do in practical use. 🪄 Simple Definition: A Large Language Model (LLM) is an AI system trained to understand, interpret, and generate human language. 🌟 Expanded Definition: LLMs are built using deep learning and trained on massive collections of text. This enables them to recognize patterns, understand context, and produce writing that feels natural and human-like. Examples include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok.LLMs can summarize documents, answer questions, write content, support research, and assist in decision-making.They don’t “think” like people—they generate responses based on statistical patterns learned during training. ⚡ In Action: You type: “Draft a follow-up message for customers who missed their service appointment.” The LLM produces a polished, professional message in seconds. 💡 Pro Tip: Clear instructions produce stronger results. Define the role, purpose, tone, and audience to guide the model effectively. This term is part of the Classroom Course - AI Fundamentals

We just crossed 400 members, and I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who’s joined AI Bits & Pieces and helped shape what this space is becoming.🎉 This community was built on a simple idea: ✨AI is now a life skill. The goal here isn’t to chase tools or trends. It’s to build real understanding and practical fluency. So AI can be applied thoughtfully in everyday life, work, and business. As the community continues to grow, you’ll see more relevant content as we learn more about member preferences. That said, content is only one part of what makes this community work. 🤝 Just as important are the contributors who consistently show up and share real work — including open build journeys like @Holger Peschke 30-day RAG build, and @Matthew Sutherland, who consistently adds deeper insight and context to our content. @Muskan Ahlawat and @Judith Vanegas also deserve recognition for their consistent encouragement and thoughtful engagement. 🏆 Community Leaderboard To recognize members who have made meaningful contributions through participation, learning, and engagement — thank you for showing up. 1. @Frank van Bokhorst 2. @Holger Peschke 3. @Muskan Ahlawat 4. @Matthew Sutherland 5. @Dena Dion 6. @Judith Vanegas 7. @Jason Hagen 8. @Dorota Mleczko 9. @Usman Mohammed 10. @Roger Richards And new contributors: @Glenn Marcus and @Reynoso Anubis for their in-depth posts and videos that inspire and encourage us pursue new AI goals and applications.

There’s a lot of discussion about how overwhelming AI can feel—especially with the sheer breadth of products and services, and the speed at which new revisions and updates keep rolling out. For many people, it creates a constant sense of playing catch-up. So whether you’re just starting out, or you feel like you’re simply keeping pace, the best place to start—or recenter—is prompting. Prompting is the foundation of working with AI. It’s the way we express intent, provide context, and guide direction when interacting with intelligent systems. Not as a trick. Not as a hack. But as the underlying mechanism that determines whether AI feels helpful—or frustrating. 💎 Why Prompting Comes First 💎 Every AI interaction follows the same basic loop: You give input. AI responds. You react, refine, or redirect. No matter the tool, that loop doesn’t change. If your intent is unclear, the output will be too. If your context is thin, the response will be shallow. If your direction is vague, results will feel inconsistent. Better tools don’t fix that. Clear prompting does. 💎 Prompting Is About Thinking, Not Typing 💎 It’s easy to think prompting is about what words you use. It’s not. It’s about: - Knowing what you’re actually trying to achieve - Providing enough context for AI to work intelligently - Setting boundaries and expectations - Being willing to refine instead of restarting The strongest prompts usually come from clearer thinking—not longer instructions. 💎 Why This Transfers Across Tools 💎 This is why prompting shows up everywhere. Once you learn how to: - Frame a request clearly - Ask follow-up questions - Adjust direction through iteration You’ll notice something interesting happen. New AI tools start to feel familiar. Different interfaces. Different outputs. Same underlying conversation. That’s not coincidence. That’s the foundation at work. 💎 The Diamond in the Rough 💎 Prompting is often taken for granted. Because it feels simple, people assume it’s basic.

A 5-Part Series on Prompting, Iteration, and Finding Your Own AI Rhythm We talk a lot about AI tools— Models. Apps. Updates. But beneath all of it, there’s one thing that quietly connects almost everything in modern AI: 💎 Prompting. Not as a trick. Not as a hack. But as the foundation—the way we communicate intent, context, and direction to AI. 💎 Prompting — often taken for granted, yet once refined, it unlocks real AI power. Over the next few posts, I’m kicking off a 5-part series called: 💎 Prompting: The Foundation for Unlocking Real AI Power We’ll explore: - Why prompting shows up everywhere, no matter the tool - Why iteration (not perfection) is the real superpower - Why some AI tools feel intuitive while others don’t - How prompting naturally enables us to expand from simple use to workflows and systems - And why there is no single “right” path when learning AI This series will reveal how such a simple act can unlock so much real capability. For the complete Series articles, visit: Series Hub ✨ AI Bits & Pieces — helping people and businesses adopt AI with confidence. Image created using “prompts” with ChatGPT.

If you’re new to the community — or you’re just starting to use (or trying to understand) ChatGPT and tools like it — this is the course for you. We’ve just added a new Classroom course: How LLMs Like ChatGPT Work This course is designed to help you understand what’s actually happening when you use ChatGPT, so you can stop guessing and start getting better results. The big idea is simple:👉 The more you understand how ChatGPT works, the better you can guide it with your prompts. What you’ll learn: - The building blocks behind ChatGPT and large language models (LLMs) - How prompts, responses, and conversation work together - Why ChatGPT answers the way it does — and why it sometimes sounds confident but gets things wrong - How this understanding helps you write clearer prompts and use AI more intentionally 📌 Quick Note: There are many LLMs similar to ChatGPT available today, like Gemini and Claude, which are covered in a separate course. In this course, we use ChatGPT illustratively to explain how LLMs work in practice. This course is: - Beginner-friendly - Plain English - Built for real-world use (not engineers) If you’ve ever wondered why ChatGPT responded the way it did — or how to steer it more effectively — this course will help.