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Generation

Generation is the computational production of outputs from supplied inputs or context, often by applying a model to produce predictions or new content.

How 20 Manning books explain it

Learn Generative AI with PyTorch

A language-modeling task in which new text is produced without conditioning on a specific task label, here using a generic or empty prompt.

How it is used
Uses generic-prompt text generation to sample a trained language model and check whether its output copies training passages.
How deep it goes
Works through token-index sampling and output comparison; requires a placeholder because the generation function rejects an empty prompt.
Examples
Compares repeated `UNK`-prompt passages from Hemingway-style models trained for 20 and 40 epochs.
What you can do after
Practice/perform generic-prompt generation with a trained GPT-style model and inspect its output for copied training text.

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Deep Learning with Python, Third Edition

The process of producing new text token by token from a trained language model, often by feeding previous outputs back as inputs.

How it is used
Extends a prompt into new text by repeatedly turning a language model’s next-token prediction into its next input.
How deep it goes
Works through prompt priming, explicit GRU state, token-by-token inference, and sampling choices, without deriving the model’s probability calculations.
Examples
Uses a Shakespeare-style character continuation and a GPT-style advice prompt to compare greedy, random, and top-K outputs.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch as a prompt-conditioned generation loop and apply Keras sampling functions to vary token selection.

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Natural Language Processing in Action, Second Edition

Natural language generation, or text generation, is the computational production of human-readable natural-language text.

How it is used
Composes readable responses, summaries, completions, and code within NLP applications.
How deep it goes
Explains decoding and iterative next-word probabilities, with temperature as a selection control; leaves detailed model implementation aside.
Examples
Uses chatbot replies, search summaries, TypeScript code suggestions, and a Python bigram-autocomplete exercise.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch as a bigram autocomplete exercise, then evaluate/understand it against LLM completions and factual-grounding limits.

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Generative AI in Action

Natural language generation is the computational production of human-readable language from structured or unstructured inputs.

How it is used
Uses generation to create requested text, from business drafts to application responses.
How deep it goes
Explains iterative next-token generation and completion API responses without deriving the model’s mathematics.
Examples
Demonstrates a launch-email prompt, pet-salon name ideas, and a completion API response.
What you can do after
Apply it via a completion API to request text, inspect the response, and manage token use.

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Build a Reasoning Model (From Scratch)

The process of producing new textual output from a language model given prior context or instructions.

How it is used
Deploys pretrained language models to generate responses from prompts and support later evaluation and reasoning workflows.
How deep it goes
Explains token preparation, logits, argmax, streaming, and KV caching, while deferring attention and architectural internals.
Examples
Demonstrates a Berlin completion, streamed decoded output, a cached generation function, and a reusable generation wrapper.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch using tokenization, autoregressive decoding, streaming, end-of-sequence handling, and KV-cache optimization.

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Deep Learning with R, Third Edition

The computational generation of natural-language text by a model.

How it is used
Produces new text by extending a prompt one token at a time; also offers a possible source of text-augmentation examples.
How deep it goes
Works through next-token selection and an R generation loop, then addresses compilation and fixed input shapes without detailing cached generation.
Examples
Shows a miniature GPT continuing “A piece of advice” and compares simple and fixed-length generation functions.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch with a miniature GPT generation loop, then apply Keras `predict()` with fixed-length inputs to improve speed.

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Deep Learning with PyTorch, Second Edition

The task of producing a token sequence as output, conditioned on preceding input or context.

How it is used
Uses next-token prediction to produce new text sequences rather than classify or regress over existing data.
How deep it goes
Works through character-level training and sampling, then extends the next-token model to causal attention and a transformer decoder.
Examples
Shows generated names from a character-level model and a GPT-style decoder.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch in PyTorch: train a next-character model and sample names by feeding predictions back as input.

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Grokking AI Algorithms, Second Edition

Language generation is the computational production of natural-language text from learned patterns or supplied information.

How it is used
Uses language generation to turn prompts or supplied information into draft text that a person can guide and refine.
How deep it goes
Explains next-word prediction through autocomplete and names Transformer components, but does not work through a text-generation algorithm.
Examples
Illustrates next-word suggestions with mobile autocomplete and practical drafting with product descriptions, ad copy, and learning materials.
What you can do after
Apply it via an LLM to create first drafts from prompts or specifications, then review and refine them.

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Statistics Every Programmer Needs

Prediction is the process of estimating an outcome from patterns or information in input data without necessarily modeling its temporal ordering.

How it is used
Uses learned relationships, temporal patterns, or simulated uncertainty to estimate outcomes for decisions and evaluation.
How deep it goes
Explains method selection, implementation, comparison with observations, and limitations, but does not develop formal statistical proofs.
Examples
Demonstrates decision-tree labels, linear-regression responses, ARIMA stock forecasts, and Monte Carlo stock-price trajectories.
What you can do after
Apply it via Python models to generate predictions, compare them with observed values, and interpret accuracy alongside uncertainty and volatility.

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Math and Architectures of Deep Learning

A modeling approach that learns a data distribution so new samples resembling the training data can be generated.

How it is used
Models data distributions to generate samples and evaluate how probable new instances are.
How deep it goes
Descends from distribution properties through Bayesian parameter estimation, including priors, likelihoods, posteriors, and conjugate families.
Examples
Uses cat-image sampling, face-probability estimation, smooth density heat maps, and comparisons with irregular decision boundaries.
What you can do after
Apply distribution models to generate samples or estimate probabilities for new data instances.

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Sutskever's List

A model that learns a data distribution and can sample new data from it.

How it is used
Uses learned text distributions to produce new sentences, paragraphs, and multiturn conversations.
How deep it goes
Explains conditional token prediction, next-token training, and causal masking without detailing sampling procedures.
Examples
Contrasts plausible, grammatically broken, and semantically odd sentences to show how models reflect syntax and meaning.
What you can do after
Understand how autoregressive models generate text and how next-token prediction trains them.

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Causal AI

A generative model is a model that represents a process for generating observations, typically by specifying a joint or conditional probability distribution.

How it is used
Uses latent-variable models to generate observations and produce counterfactual media after interventions.
How deep it goes
Explains latent variables, assignment functions, and abduction-action-prediction, then demonstrates sampling without deriving model identification.
Examples
Demonstrates gaming outcomes, femur-length height inference, and semantic image editing with generated counterfactual artifacts.
What you can do after
Builds counterfactual generators with Pyro or graphical models and evaluates generated outcomes against interventional distributions.

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Statistics Slam Dunk

The predict() function is an R function that generates predictions from a fitted model for supplied data, optionally returning interval estimates.

How it is used
Applies fitted regression models to test data and evaluates predicted outcomes against observed sports results.
How deep it goes
Explains required arguments, confidence intervals, response probabilities, thresholding, and downstream evaluation with errors and classification metrics.
Examples
Demonstrates regular-season win forecasts and playoff-qualification probabilities using train-test sports data.
What you can do after
Apply it via base R to generate numeric predictions, confidence intervals, or response probabilities for new observations.

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Build AI-Enhanced Web Apps

The production of natural-language text by a computational model from an input or context.

How it is used
Supports web application features including content creation, marketing copy, conversational agents, customer support, and personalized responses.
How deep it goes
Explains the generation workflow and transformer foundations but stops short of implementation code, training procedures, and detailed model internals.
Examples
Uses marketing copy, product descriptions, customer-support chatbots, feedback responses, and conversational follow-up as examples.
What you can do after
Build it into web applications by routing user prompts through backend services and language-model APIs to deliver generated content.

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Digital Twins in Action

Generative AI is a class of artificial-intelligence models that produces new content or data from learned patterns.

How it is used
Uses generative AI for natural-language twin queries, simulation-scenario generation, synthetic data, and equipment-specific analysis.
How deep it goes
Explains why twin context grounds LLM responses and supports specialized analysis, without detailing model training or an implementation.
Examples
Uses a pump-pressure question and a turbine-bearing diagnostic report to illustrate answers grounded in asset and operating data.
What you can do after
Evaluate/understand it by judging whether an LLM answer has the asset-specific context needed to avoid a generic response.

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Domain-Specific Small Language Models

The task of producing output sequences from a model given an input context or prompt, here applied to proteins rather than natural language.

How it is used
Generates protein sequences for novel design and engineering, while framing inference through speed, accuracy, and compute cost.
How deep it goes
Explains next-token generation, prompting, model scale, and runtime tradeoffs, but stops short of detailed quality evaluation.
Examples
Demonstrates ProtGPT2 prompts, batches of ten generated sequences, and a Transformers inference pipeline.
What you can do after
Apply it via Transformers to generate protein sequences from prompts and adjust batch-generation settings.

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Transformers in Action

Natural language generation is the computational production of human-readable language from learned representations or structured information.

How it is used
Supports applications such as chatbots, story generation, translation, and other tasks requiring context-sensitive language output.
How deep it goes
Descends from sequence-level intuition to causal masking, tokenization, transformer blocks, and decoding strategies.
Examples
Uses translation, chatbot responses, story generation, GPT-2-style BPE encoding, and masked-attention code.
What you can do after
Evaluate generation pipelines by relating architecture, masking, tokenization, decoding, sampling, and prompting choices to output quality.

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AI-Powered Search

A generative model is a model that produces new data or content according to patterns learned from its training data.

How it is used
Generates synthesized answers, summaries, and multimodal content directly from queries or analyzed search results.
How deep it goes
Defines the paradigm and illustrates its progression and risks, but does not provide implementation steps or model internals.
Examples
Uses a preference-based Paris itinerary and generated text, image, audio, and video as concrete examples.
What you can do after
Evaluate how generated search responses improve information access while introducing bias, censorship, propaganda, and safety risks.

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Build an AI Agent (From Scratch)

A task response is a standardized A2A message returned by an agent server with the result of processing a task request.

How it is used
Coordinates the standardized result exchange between A2A clients and agent servers after task execution.
How deep it goes
Explains the request-response flow and HTTP role but does not detail the response schema or server implementation.
Examples
Uses a math expert agent card and a client-server flow showing discovery, task submission, execution, and result return.
What you can do after
Understand how to trace an A2A task from agent discovery through server execution to the returned response.

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Learn Go with Pocket-Sized Projects

A response message is a Protobuf message containing the output data for an API operation.

How it is used
Structures gRPC endpoint outputs so API changes remain compatible with existing clients.
How deep it goes
Explains dedicated message declarations and compatibility rationale, stopping short of generated implementation details.
Examples
Uses the CreateHabit endpoint with CreateHabitRequest and CreateHabitResponse containing a Habit field.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch by declaring version-tolerant Protobuf responses for gRPC endpoints.

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Related concepts

These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.