Mental Models for Production AI

A guide to thinking about AI features in production applications. This series provides full-stack engineers with the mental frameworks needed to evaluate, build, operate, and improve AI-powered features—focusing on practical decision-making rather than implementation details.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
When Should I Retrain or Tune?

When Should I Retrain or Tune?

The decision framework for updates. An interactive guide to knowing when to tune prompts vs retrain models vs investigate deeper.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
Systems That Don't Learn, Decay

Systems That Don't Learn, Decay

Closing the loop. Why continuous learning isn't optional—systems that don't improve, degrade.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
Silent Failures Make Me Most Nervous

Silent Failures Make Me Most Nervous

The degradation timeline. How AI systems fail slowly without anyone noticing—and how to catch it.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
When Do I Need Human Review?

When Do I Need Human Review?

Where humans belong in the loop. An interactive framework for deciding when and how to involve human reviewers.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
How Do I Know It's Failing?

How Do I Know It's Failing?

Detection before it's too late. An interactive guide to setting up failure detection for AI systems.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
The AI Failure Cascade

The AI Failure Cascade

Every layer is a potential failure point. Maps the path from user request to user impact and where things can break.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
Build Discipline vs Run Discipline

Build Discipline vs Run Discipline

Two different mindsets required for AI features. What it takes to build well vs what it takes to run well—they're not the same.

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Build vs Buy: Vendor Strategy for AI Features

Build vs Buy: Vendor Strategy for AI Features

When to use APIs vs build your own. An interactive guide to the build-vs-buy decision for AI capabilities.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
RAG vs Fine-tuning: How I'd Decide

RAG vs Fine-tuning: How I'd Decide

The most common architectural decision in AI features. An interactive decision tree to navigate the RAG vs fine-tuning choice.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
Is My Data Ready?

Is My Data Ready?

An interactive checklist for data readiness. Walk through each data requirement before proceeding with AI development.

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Mental Models for Production AIMental Models for Production AI
Why I Think About Data Before Models

Why I Think About Data Before Models

Explores the four quadrants of data readiness - source, quality, lineage, privacy - that determine what's possible with AI

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Should We Use AI Here?

Should We Use AI Here?

An interactive tool to determine if AI is the right choice for a given problem.

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