Preface

The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is upon us. Every day, new applications, extensions, or improvements in almost all aspects of life are being impacted by AI technologies. These technologies are almost entirely realized in complex software.

Building complex software is a challenge that requires disciplined and methodical effort to engineer. Many times, when complex software systems fail, it is usually that the architecture of the system failed, rather than a specific algorithmic or implementation detail. There exist best practices and lessons learned for building complex software. There also exist plenty of references on the theory and implementation of AI technologies.

There do not exist many references for how to build complex software that has AI technologies at its heart.

The authors’ main tenet is that the application of architecting concepts and practices is a key enabler to building complex AI software. In the pages that follow, we will discuss what some of the challenges facing the builder of a complex AI system are. You will learn how you can adapt and use the lessons from architecting to structure and guide the development of a software system.

The book looks to balance theory and application: theory so that recommendations are grounded and can be understood, and application so that the book can be useful to you in the here and now. This book is the culmination of decades of experience of the authors with hard-earned lessons, both positive and negative. The age of AI is here; we hope this book will be another tool in your toolbox.