Ever wondered what goes on inside those AI chatbots you use every day? Now you don't have to wonder anymore—you can build your own. Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch) takes you behind the curtain of generative AI, giving you the practical skills to create an LLM that actually works on your computer.
This isn't just theory—you'll get your hands dirty coding each component of a GPT-style language model from scratch. Start with attention mechanisms, then implement the transformer architecture, train on real data, and fine-tune for specific tasks. By the end, you'll have a working chatbot that can follow conversational instructions, all running on your ordinary laptop without needing expensive cloud services.
Author Sebastian Raschka, a staff research engineer at Lightning AI, breaks down complex concepts into manageable steps. Each chapter builds on the last, with clear explanations, diagrams, and practical examples. You'll learn to prepare datasets suitable for LLM training, construct complete training pipelines, and even implement human feedback systems to ensure your AI follows instructions properly.
If you have intermediate Python skills and some machine learning knowledge, this book is your ticket to understanding AI from the inside out. The journey starts with basic concepts and gradually progresses to more advanced techniques, making it accessible yet comprehensive for developers ready to take the plunge into large language models.
When you build something yourself, you truly understand it. This hands-on approach gives you deep knowledge of how LLMs work, their limitations, and how to customize them for your specific needs. Your finished LLM becomes more than just a project—it becomes your personal AI assistant, ready to help with coding, writing, or whatever tasks you train it for.
