[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":53},["ShallowReactive",2],{"thought-ai-basics":3},{"slug":4,"path":5,"url":6,"title":7,"metaTitle":8,"description":9,"published":10,"modified":10,"datePlaceholder":11,"keywords":12,"image":23,"imageUrl":29,"summary":30,"faqs":31,"reference":-1,"material":41,"cta":48,"html":49,"referenceHtml":50,"wordCount":51,"readingMinutes":52},"ai-basics","\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics","https:\u002F\u002Fgavinerasmus.com\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics","AI Basics: An Interactive Primer","AI Basics: An Interactive Primer | Gavin Erasmus","An interactive primer on eleven AI concepts, from language models and tokens to agents and guardrails. Open it in a browser, or download it to use offline.","2026-10-23",false,[13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22],"AI basics","interactive primer","large language models","tokens","context engineering","tool calling","MCP","AI agents","embeddings","guardrails",{"src":24,"src2x":25,"width":26,"height":27,"alt":28},"\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics.png","\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics@2x.png",1280,720,"The home view of the AI Basics interactive primer: the headline 'AI Basics, but you get to break it.', a short introduction, two buttons, and the first row of concept cards under the heading Understanding the Brain.","https:\u002F\u002Fgavinerasmus.com\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics.png","A single interactive page that explains how AI systems work and how they are put to use. Each of eleven ideas, from language models and tokens to agents and guardrails, comes with a small demonstration you can operate yourself. The primer opens in any browser and runs offline once it has been downloaded.",[32,35,38],{"q":33,"a":34},"What does the AI Basics primer cover?","It explains eleven ideas about how AI systems work and how they are put to use, in three parts: how AI thinks, how it takes action, and how it delivers value. The concepts run from large language models and tokens to agents, multi-agent systems, and guardrails and governance.",{"q":36,"a":37},"How is the primer different from a written explainer?","Each concept has a short explanation and a hands-on demonstration that you can operate yourself, so the idea can be tried as well as read.",{"q":39,"a":40},"What do I need to use it?","Nothing beyond a browser. The primer is a single HTML page that needs no installation and no account. You can open it in a new tab, or download the file to keep a copy, and once downloaded it runs offline.",{"href":42,"filename":43,"size":44,"openLabel":45,"downloadLabel":46,"type":47},"\u002Fthoughts\u002Fai-basics-interactive.html","ai-basics-interactive.html","74 KB","Open the interactive primer","Download the primer (HTML)","text\u002Fhtml","If you are working out where these ideas apply in your own organisation, I would welcome the conversation.","\u003Ch2>What the primer covers\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>The primer is a single HTML page in three parts: how AI thinks, how it takes action, and how it delivers value. Each concept has a short explanation and a hands-on demonstration, so the idea can be tried as well as read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eleven concepts are:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Col>\n\u003Cli>Large language models\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Tokens and cost\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Context engineering\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>APIs\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Tool calling\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>MCP\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Skills\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Agents\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Embeddings and similarity search\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Multi-agent systems\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Guardrails and governance\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Fol>\n\u003Ch2>Using it\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Open it in a new tab to use it here, or download the file to keep a copy. It needs no installation and no account, and once downloaded it runs offline in any browser.\u003C\u002Fp>\n","",258,1,1793536248627]