Building Generative AI Apps with Tool Use and Function Calling

Generative AI is powerful, but its true potential is unlocked when models can interact with the real world. By teaching AI models to use external tools and APIs, you can build applications that fetch live data, perform calculations, and automate complex workflows. This text-only course guides you from the absolute basics of generative AI to building applications that leverage function calling and tool integration. You will understand how to structure prompts, handle API responses, and design systems where AI models safely execute actions to solve user requests. What you'll learn: - Understand the core principles of tool use and function calling in generative AI - Connect language models to external APIs and databases to retrieve real-time information - Design structured schemas that define how and when an AI model should call a tool - Implement error handling and validation for AI-generated tool arguments - Apply prompt engineering techniques to guide models in selecting the correct tools - Explore security best practices for executing AI-driven commands safely Starting with fundamental concepts and key terminology, you will progress through clear, written explanations and practical code examples. You will explore step-by-step how models decide to use tools and how to process those decisions in your own software. This course is designed for beginner developers, software hobbyists, and tech enthusiasts who want to expand their AI development skills. No prior experience with generative AI APIs is required, though a basic understanding of programming concepts is helpful. Start reading today to build AI applications that do more than just chat.