Part 3/3: LLMs Under the Hood

In this comprehensive workshop, we'll take a deep technical journey through the transformative world of Large Language Models (LLMs), exploring three crucial aspects that are revolutionizing software development: the Transformer architecture, embeddings, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).

We begin by unraveling the intricate architecture of transformer models, examining the fundamental mechanisms that enable these tools to understand and generate human-like text. From embedding layers to attention mechanisms, you'll gain a thorough understanding of how these models process and predict tokens. This foundation sets the stage for understanding both the capabilities and limitations of LLMs in practical applications.

Building on this knowledge, we'll dive into the mathematical foundations of embeddings, one of the most powerful yet misunderstood tools in the LLM ecosystem. You'll learn how to leverage various comparison techniques like Cosine similarity and clustering to create sophisticated applications that go beyond basic chat interfaces. Through hands-on examples, you'll discover how to transform raw text into meaningful vector representations that capture semantic relationships.

The workshop culminates with an in-depth exploration of RAG systems, demonstrating how to combine the pre-trained knowledge of LLMs with your own data sources. Using C# and the Microsoft OpenAI Client, we'll implement practical RAG solutions that address real business challenges. You'll learn strategies for managing request complexity, ensuring retrieval accuracy, handling model biases, and validating response authenticity.

By the end of this workshop, you'll possess a comprehensive understanding of LLM technology, from theoretical foundations to practical implementation. Whether you're building content generation systems, or information retrieval solutions, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and tools to harness these technologies responsibly and effectively in your applications.