AI for Developers and Open Source Models

Introduction

Hey everybody, welcome back to Nikky T Live! I'm your host, Nick Taylor. Today, I'm hanging out with Sam Julene, Director of Developer Relations over at Writer. Sam, how are you doing?

Getting Started with Sam Julene

I'm doing good, Nick! Great to talk to you. It's pronounced "Julene," by the way. But no worries, I'm thrilled to be here and happy to hang out and chat.

Introducing Sam Julene

For those who might not know you, could you give an introduction?

Sure! I’m Sam Julene. I transitioned from a brief career in finance to tech about ten years ago. I started as a self-taught C# and JavaScript developer. I moved into content and developer relations in 2018 at Auth0, which was later acquired by Okta. I’ve held various roles in developer relations, and I joined Writer in April. I'm currently building their developer relations program from scratch. Writer is a generative AI platform for enterprises, and it’s an exciting time to be here with lots of open-source projects underway.

Introducing Writer

What does Writer offer in terms of its capabilities?

Writer is a full-stack generative AI platform aimed at large enterprises. We train our own models from scratch targeting specific business use cases. We use a specialized approach to retrieval augmented generation (RAG) which provides accurate, low-hallucination outputs. Our platform, AI Studio, includes both no-code tools for business users and developer tools like Python and TypeScript SDKs.

Working with the Writer Node.js SDK

I signed in. What's the next step?

You can start by generating an API key. Once you have that, you can dig into some code. Writer offers Node.js and Python SDKs. The API provides functionalities like text completion and chat, with streaming and non-streaming versions of each.

Example Project: Pokemon Battle Analyzer

For our example project, we decided to work with the Pokemon API and the Writer SDK.

Here's how we approached it:

UI Setup: We created a Next.js app with options to select Pokemon abilities and characters.
API Integration: We integrated the Writer Node.js SDK, fetching and parsing data from the Pokemon API.
Prompting the Model: We created a chat API endpoint to evaluate if a specific Pokemon ability could defeat another Pokemon using a customizable prompt.

Key Features and Implementation

Prompt Engineering: Being specific in our prompts greatly improved the model's output.
Server-Sent Events: Used for a streaming response to get real-time feedback.
Context Addition: Added fields like "additional context" to capture more specific details and refine model responses.

Real-World Applications of Writer

Real-world applications of Writer span across various industries:

Content Creation: Generating and editing large volumes of text based on specific guidelines.
Data Conversion: Converting CSVs into well-formatted HTML summaries.
Financial Services: Ensuring regulatory and compliance requirements are met through text analysis.

Summary

The example in the stream showed how easily developers can tap into Writer’s capabilities even for fun scenarios like Pokemon battles. Writer's SDKs offer robust tools for text and chat completions, making it easier to build AI-centric applications.

Keywords

AI
Developer Relations
Writer
Node.js SDK
TypeScript SDK
Generative AI
Python
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Machine Learning Models
Prompt Engineering

FAQ

Q1: What differentiates Writer from other AI platforms? A1: Writer trains its own models specifically for business use cases, ensuring higher accuracy and relevance for enterprise applications.

Q2: How does Writer handle different types of inputs? A2: Writer's platform supports various input types including text completions and chat, with both streaming and non-streaming versions.

Q3: Can I access Writer's models for free? A3: Writer provides $ 50 worth of credits upon signup, which allows developers to experiment and build applications without initial costs.

Q4: Is there a Python SDK available for Writer? A4: Yes, along with the Node.js SDK, Writer offers a Python SDK to cater to a wide range of developer needs.

Q5: What kind of real-world applications can be built using Writer? A5: Writer has been used for content generation, regulatory compliance, data conversion, and more, providing significant time savings and efficiency improvements.

Feel free to check out Writer’s platform to explore its full capabilities.

Note

For those interested, I will clean up and share the Pokemon battle analyzer code on GitHub. Reach out if you have any questions, comments, or just want to share what you’re building with Writer!