Key features of generative AI systems include the ability to generate new content, learn patterns in data, and adapt to new information. They can create text, images, music, and even code. Another key feature is their ability to provide real-time responses, which is crucial for interactive applications. This real-time capability is essential for applications like chatbots and live content generation.
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Grokking the Generative AI System Design
Explore the design of scalable generative AI systems guided by a structured framework and real-world systems in text, image, audio, and video generation.
4.6
30 Lessons
4 Mock Interviews
4h
Updated 2 weeks ago
Join 2.9 million developers at
Join 2.9 million developers at
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Apply the SCALED framework — a 6-step methodology for designing large-scale Generative AI systems
- Design real-world GenAI systems across four modalities: text-to-text (ChatGPT), text-to-image (DALL·E), text-to-speech (ElevenLabs), and text-to-video (SORA)
- Estimate computational resources for training and deploying LLMs and other generative models at scale
- Evaluate GenAI model performance using targeted metrics and optimization techniques
- Apply foundational concepts: neural networks, transformers, tokenization, embeddings, RAG, and fine-tuning
- Practice with 4 mock interviews covering end-to-end GenAI System Design problems
Why choose this course?
The Next Frontier of System Design
Generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude have redefined software architecture. Learn how these intelligent, multimodal systems are designed, scaled, and optimized for real-world performance and trust.
Think Like an Architect
Move beyond fine-tuning and prompting. Understand the design principles behind text, image, speech, and video generation, covering pipelines, orchestration, and latency-aware architecture decisions.
SCALED: Your Playbook for GenAI System Design
Master a scalable process for designing complex GenAI architectures. Using the SCALED framework, learn to scope, connect, align, and evaluate design choices across diverse AI modalities.
Learn Through Real-World Case Studies
Dissect the systems behind ChatGPT, Gemini, and DALL·E. Learn how retrieval, memory, vector search, and multimodal fusion work together to power intelligent, context-aware generative experiences at scale.
Test Your Knowledge with AI Mock Interviews
Take on real GenAI design challenges and benchmark your skills with mock interviews that mirror the expectations of esign interviews at the top AI companies.
Learning Roadmap
2.
Fundamental Concepts in GenAI
Fundamental Concepts in GenAI
Master foundational concepts, evaluation metrics, and optimization techniques for Generative AI systems.
3.
Back-of-the-envelope Calculations
Back-of-the-envelope Calculations
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Understand back-of-the-envelope calculations for efficiently planning LLM training and deployment.
4.
Systematic Framework for Designing GenAI Systems
Systematic Framework for Designing GenAI Systems
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore how to prepare for a GenAI System Design interview and learn a systematic 6-step framework for designing impactful GenAI systems.
5.
System Design of a Text-to-Text Generation System
System Design of a Text-to-Text Generation System
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore the training and deployment System Design of an efficient conversational AI system.
6.
System Design of a Text-to-Image Generation System
System Design of a Text-to-Image Generation System
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore the training and deployment System Design of a robust image generation system.
7.
System Design of a Text-to-Speech Generation System
System Design of a Text-to-Speech Generation System
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore the training and deployment System Design of a realistic speech generation system.
8.
System Design of a Text-to-Video Generation System
System Design of a Text-to-Video Generation System
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore the training and deployment System Design of a text-to-video generation system.
9.
System Design of an Image Captioning System
System Design of an Image Captioning System
2 Lessons
2 Lessons
Explore the training and deployment System Design of an image captioning system.
11.
Free GenAI System Design Lessons
Free GenAI System Design Lessons
9 Lessons
9 Lessons
Learn core GenAI system design concepts, from model training and sampling to multimodal, diffusion, audio, and hardware choices in real-world AI systems.
Certificate of Completion
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Complete more lessons to unlock your certificate
Developed by MAANG Engineers
ABOUT THIS COURSE
GenAI System Design is emerging as its own interview category at top tech companies, distinct from traditional ML System Design. The questions are different, the architectures are different, and the scale considerations (GPU compute, parallelism, inference optimization) require their own mental models. Having spent years researching adaptive AI systems and neural networks – and now leading the creation of learning content at Educative – I designed this course to bridge that gap between understanding generative AI conceptually and being able to architect these systems end-to-end.
You'll learn the SCALED framework, which is a 6-step methodology for breaking down any GenAI System Design problem – then apply it across five real-world systems spanning text, image, speech, and video generation. Each case study walks through training architecture, deployment design, and the specific tradeoffs involved in that modality.
Before diving into the case studies, the course covers the foundational concepts you'll need: neural networks, transformers, tokenization, embeddings, parallelism strategies, inference optimization, RAG, and fine-tuning. You'll also learn how to do back-of-the-envelope calculations for LLM training and deployment. A bonus: if you have a GenAI or ML System Design interview coming up, this will give you both the framework and the depth to handle whatever systems are asked to design.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Khayyam Hashmi
Computer scientist and Generative AI and Machine Learning specialist. VP of Technical Content @ educative.io.
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Kunal Sahu
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Anthony Walker
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Evan Dunbar
ML Engineer
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Software Developer
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Souvik Kundu
Front-end Developer
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