Nerdy
AI
AI is a capability multiplier, but only if you understand what it's actually good at. These concepts cut through the hype and help you extract real value.
Context Engineering
The practice of supplying AI systems with the right background information, in the right format, to produce useful outputs.
Metacognition
Thinking deliberately about how you work, surfacing habitual patterns and tacit knowledge so you can identify opportunities for improvement or automation.
Prompt Engineering
The practice of structuring instructions to AI systems for reliable, high-quality outputs through deliberate choices about structure, specificity, and iteration.
Loop Engineering
The design of the cycle an agent runs: its tools, its feedback, its stopping conditions, and where a human gets to interrupt.
AI Engineering Glossary
A working vocabulary for building with large language models: models, agents, harnesses, retrieval, training, and the operations around them.