What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!

Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!

50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.

Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.

Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.

Subscribe now

View plans & pricing

Key benefits

Link your C# and Python applications with the latest AI models from OpenAI

Combine and orchestrate different AI services such as text and image generators

Create your own AI apps with real-world use case examples that show you how to use basic generative AI, create images, process documents, use a vector database

Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Description

In the fast-paced world of AI, developers are constantly seeking efficient ways to integrate AI capabilities into their apps. Microsoft Semantic Kernel simplifies this process by using the GenAI features from Microsoft and OpenAI. Written by Lucas A. Meyer, a Principal Research Scientist in Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, this book helps you get hands on with Semantic Kernel. It begins by introducing you to different generative AI services such as GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, demonstrating their integration with Semantic Kernel. You’ll then learn to craft prompt templates for reuse across various AI services and variables. Next, you’ll learn how to add functionality to Semantic Kernel by creating your own plugins. The second part of the book shows you how to combine multiple plugins to execute complex actions, and how to let Semantic Kernel use its own AI to solve complex problems by calling plugins, including the ones made by you. The book concludes by teaching you how to use vector databases to expand the memory of your AI services and how to help AI remember the context of earlier requests. You’ll also be guided through several real-world examples of applications, such as RAG and custom GPT agents. By the end of this book, you'll have gained the knowledge you need to start using Semantic Kernel to add AI capabilities to your applications.

Who is this book for?

This book is for beginner-level to experienced .NET or Python software developers who want to quickly incorporate the latest AI technologies into their applications, without having to learn the details of every new AI service. Product managers with some development experience will find this book helpful while creating proof-of-concept applications. This book requires working knowledge of programming basics.

What you will learn

Write reusable AI prompts and connect to different AI providers

Create new plugins that extend the capabilities of AI services

Understand how to combine multiple plugins to execute complex actions

Orchestrate multiple AI services to accomplish a task

Leverage the powerful planner to automatically create appropriate AI calls

Use vector databases as additional memory for your AI tasks

Deploy your application to ChatGPT, making it available to hundreds of millions of users

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!

Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!

50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.

Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.

Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.

Subscribe now

View plans & pricing

Frequently bought together

$54.99

Building AI Applications with Microsoft Semantic Kernel

$44.99

$49.99

Total $ 149.97

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription?

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription?

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits?

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled?

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title?

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team.

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles?

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date?

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready?

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access?

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered?

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content?

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access?

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.

Filter reviews by

All

Amazon verified reviews

Om S Jul 26, 2024

This book is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to integrate AI into their applications. Lucas A. Meyer breaks down complex concepts into easy-to-understand steps, making it accessible even for beginners. The book covers how to link C# and Python applications with OpenAI models and use various AI services, such as text and image generators.What I loved most were the real-world examples. They provide practical insights on using generative AI, creating images, processing documents, and using a vector database. The inclusion of these examples helps you see the potential applications in a tangible way.The book is well-structured, starting from basic introductions to more advanced topics like creating and combining plugins. It also explains how to use vector databases for memory expansion, which is crucial for more complex AI tasks. Great addition to my tech library!!

Amazon Verified review

Lucas Puskaric Jun 26, 2024

I did the technical review on this book, but it's truly a banger. Highly recommend

Mojeed Abisiga Sep 09, 2024

If you are a professional in the Gen AI space looking to up your game, this Lucas's book is a must have! It offers a great deep dive into prompt engineering and building robust AI applications with Microsoft's Semantic Kernel SDK.What makes it stand out?Novel Code Design: A fresh approach to managing AI functionalities, similar to the leap classes brought to object-oriented programming.Seamless AI Integration: Streamlines the use of LLMs and other AI models for more efficient and powerful development.Flexible & Familiar: Innovates while allowing for the use of traditional Python functions - which makes the transition smooth for developers.This book is highly recommended for professionals eager to enhance their Gen AI skills.

Chandra Jul 28, 2024

This book is a great resource for Generative AI professionals seeking to build applications that require prompt engineering to construct RAGs and custom OpenAI apps. Lucas provides a high-level overview of Microsoft's Semantic Kernel SDK. This SDK integrates OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Hugging Face with Java, C#, and Python. Consequently, it's a valuable tool for software engineers to leverage their programming language expertise for developing Gen AI applications. Lucas offers lucid explanations of various topics including prompt engineering, image generation, document processing, and RAGs. Highly recommended for professionals eager to enhance their Gen AI skills.

Alexander Ashish Sep 09, 2024

I recently read this book which is an amazing guide for Gen AI professionals seeking to build applications that require prompt engineering to construct RAGs and custom OpenAI apps.I am sharing some key points from this book here 👩🏻‍💻📗 This book provides a proper details about the Semantic Kernel’s design which supports independent development and testing of components, perfect for building scalable and maintainable large-scale applications.📘 The kernel can dynamically combine functions which enables the creation of new workflows without additional coding which is ideal for complex applications like MS Office.📙 The book talk about the supports for both Core Plugins and custom semantic plugins which allows developers to create amazing workflows using AI services like OpenAI, without impacting the overall system.📔 The book offers practical guidance on CoT prompt templating and RAG application development within the Semantic Kernel framework.Well this book is around 250 pages only which makes it easier to explain the GEN AI usages and copilot experience in our applications .

Building AI Applications with Microsoft Semantic Kernel : Easily integrate generative AI capabilities and copilot experiences into your applications

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?