Getting Into AI Engineering: What Should I Learn First?

A beginner developer has asked the AI engineering community for guidance on what to learn first, noting confusion over whether RAG, LoRA, fine-tuning, and LLMs represent the core of the field or just parts of a larger discipline. The developer, who is also studying C++, C, Assembly, and PostgreSQL, asked whether to focus on AI, go deeper into low-level development, or combine both given how fast the field is moving.

Hey everyone, I’m still a beginner and I just joined the community. I’ve been trying to learn more about AI engineering, but I’m still a little confused about what the field actually covers. I keep seeing things like RAG, LoRA, fine-tuning, LLMs, and so on. Are those basically the main areas of AI engineering, or are they just parts of a much bigger field? I figured I’d ask before I go too deep, so I’d appreciate any advice on what’s actually worth learning first. I’m also really into low-level development, which is why I’ve been learning C++, C, and Assembly. I mess around with PostgreSQL sometimes too. With AI moving so fast right now, would you recommend focusing more on AI, going deeper into low-level development, or trying to combine both? I’m still figuring out what direction I want to take, so I’d love to hear how other developers approached it when they were starting out.