← Concept Index

Model foundations

Model vs. product vs. system

Also called: the model is not the app

DEFINITION

The model is the underlying predictor; the product is the app around it (chat UI, safety filters, memory); the system is everything wired together, including tools, data sources, and the people using it.

WHY IT MATTERS

Most real risks and most real value live in the product and system layers — what the model is allowed to touch, what it's given, who checks it — not in the raw model. Blaming or crediting 'the AI' hides where the decisions actually are.

COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH

Treating the chatbot brand and the model as one thing. The same model can sit inside very different products with very different safeguards.