18.4 AI Architecture

AI architecture is the blueprint that connects all the parts of an AI system: data ingestion, storage, the model and its training pipeline, the serving layer that answers requests, and monitoring that watches quality over time. Good architecture makes each part replaceable.

Think of an Ethiopian agriculture advisory app: weather and soil data flow in, a model predicts the best planting time, an API serves advice to farmers' phones, and monitoring flags if predictions drift when the climate changes. Each layer can be upgraded independently.