I am fortunate enough to personally know the authors, having attended some of the same academic institutions and being employed by common employer(s). What they have put together with this text is truly incredible -- with such a fast moving field, it can sometimes feel hard to distinguish fundamentals from fads. The authors have amassed considerable combined experience in the field as skilled practitioners, and it's incredible to see a masterpiece of learning produced during their "free time". To be able to learn from these individuals and their expertise is not to be passed up! Having looked through their previous study guides for other academic topics, I can confidently say this study guide promises to be stellar 5 star material. I will update the review with additional details after receiving the book. Update -- I have read through this book and would recommend it with my reputation at stake. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... and as it turns out this book has thousands of very well thought out illustrations. It's truly incredible. 10/10, would buy again.

I have long been looking for a book like this. The book starts from foundations of neural nets, and builds from there to transformers and LLMs. It's easy to read, concise, not overly complex but also not dumbed down. Would 100% recommend.

As a visual person, the many illustrations of this book make it very easy to understand the underlying concepts. I’ve always wanted to know how ChatGPT and the like are working and I can say that this book enables me to learn exactly that. Highly recommend!

This book is an exceptional resource that makes the complex world of transformers and LLMs surprisingly accessible. Even though I personally know the authors, I would have eagerly purchased this book regardless. The authors have done an excellent job of breaking down complex concepts, guiding readers from foundational ideas all the way to the cutting-edge tools we see today. As someone with a background in theory, I especially appreciated the discussion points on common mistakes that often arise when implementing these models in practice, potentially saving countless hours of debugging frustration. I also loved the lighthearted examples, which add a touch of fun to what could otherwise be a very dense subject matter. What excites me the most is how the book demystifies the technology behind modern generative AI tools. It’s rare to find a resource that finds the right balance between technical depth and readability, but this book does just that.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered this book, but I gotta say, it's just about perfect! It's not a cover-to-cover read. Instead, it's more like a study guide that you'd use alongside a course or tutorials. It's as if someone took their entire ML university notes, organized them and created far better graphics to go with it. There is no fluff or filler, just straight up useful content. There are a TON of photos and bullet points, making it way easier to grasp the concepts. It's an awesome and handy reference book while you're learning ML. You'll probably need some other resources since this is more like a reference book. It doesn't beat around the bush at all. It's perfect for folks like me who struggle with traditional textbooks and need something more engaging and to-the-point. My first thought when I saw the book was that it was a bit small. Now that I've looked through it, I'm wondering how in the world they packed so much information into such a small package. All in all, I'm super happy with this purchase. If you're looking for a unique and effective way to learn ML, especially if you have a bit of trouble with walls of text, this book is definitely worth checking out!