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Switching between language models with unified interfaces

4 min read

From: aidotengineer

The AI SDK provides a unified interface that simplifies the process of interacting with different large language models (LLMs) [02:37:00]. This allows developers to switch between various LLM providers and models by changing as little as a single line of code [02:45:00].

Benefits of a Unified Interface

There are several reasons why a developer might want to switch between different language models [02:50:00]:

  • Cost-effectiveness: Some models may be cheaper to operate for certain tasks [02:51:00].
  • Performance: Different models might offer faster response times [02:54:00].
  • Use Case Optimization: A particular model might be better suited or optimized for a specific use case [02:54:00].

Basic Text Generation with generateText

The fundamental primitive for interacting with LLMs in the AI SDK is the generateText function [01:06:00]. This function allows users to call an LLM and generate text [01:08:00].

Example: OpenAI’s GPT-4o Mini

Initially, generateText can be used with a model like OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini, providing a simple prompt like “hello world” [01:39:00].

import { generateText, openai } from 'ai'; // Example import
 
async function main() {
  const result = await generateText({
    model: openai.chat("gpt-4o-mini"), // Specifying the model
    prompt: "hello world",
  });
  console.log(result.text);
}
main();

Running this code would yield a response such as “Hello, how can I assist you today?” [02:02:00].

Addressing Model Limitations

A common challenge with some models is their knowledge cutoff, meaning they cannot access real-time web information [03:22:00]. For example, GPT-4o Mini’s training data cutoff is around 2024, so it cannot answer questions about future events like the “AI Engineer Summit in 2025” [03:10:00].

[03:30:00] I’m sorry, but I don’t have information about events scheduled for 2025, including the AI engineer summit.

Switching Providers for Web Search Capabilities

The unified interface of the AI SDK makes it easy to switch to a different model or provider that might have built-in web search capabilities [03:53:00].

Using Perplexity

To switch to Perplexity, which has web search built-in, only the model import and instantiation need to be changed [03:56:00]:

import { generateText, perplexity } from 'ai'; // New import for Perplexity
 
async function main() {
  const result = await generateText({
    model: perplexity.chat("sonar-pro"), // Switching to Perplexity's Sonar Pro
    prompt: "When was the AI Engineer Summit in 2025?",
  });
  console.log(result.text);
}
main();

With Perplexity, the model can provide an accurate answer, such as “The AI Engineer Summit in 2025 took place from February 19th to February 22nd 2025 in New York City” [04:28:00].

Accessing Sources

Perplexity, when using web search, references its sources [04:43:00]. The AI SDK makes these sources accessible via the sources property of the result object [04:51:00].

// ... (previous code)
  console.log(result.text);
  console.log(result.sources); // Logging the sources
// ...

This allows developers to see the inline sources used by the model [05:03:00].

Using Google Gemini

The AI SDK supports many providers, including Google’s Gemini [05:10:00]. Switching to Gemini Flash 1.5 with search grounding is similarly straightforward:

import { generateText, google } from 'ai'; // New import for Google
 
async function main() {
  const result = await generateText({
    model: google.chat("gemini-flash-1.5"), // Switching to Gemini Flash 1.5
    prompt: "When was the AI Engineer Summit in 2025?",
    // Specify search grounding if available and desired
    // (Note: The transcript implies this is an option, actual implementation might vary slightly based on SDK version)
  });
  console.log(result.text);
}
main();

This demonstrates the power of the unified interface: the same prompt and configuration can be sent to different models from different providers, yielding similar accurate answers when using web search capabilities [05:47:00]. A comprehensive list of supported providers can be found in the AI SDK documentation [05:12:00].

Conclusion

The ability to seamlessly switch between language models using a unified interface like that provided by the AI SDK is a powerful feature for developers [06:05:00]. It offers flexibility in terms of cost, speed, and specific model capabilities, allowing for optimization based on the task at hand.

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