#atom

Subtitle:

Controlling AI feature deployment, experimentation, and rollout through dynamic toggles

Core Idea:

AI Feature Flagging applies feature flag techniques specifically to AI components, enabling controlled rollouts, A/B testing, and graceful degradation through runtime configuration rather than code deployment.

Key Principles:

  1. Progressive Delivery:
    • Deploy AI features to limited user segments before full release to manage risk.
  2. Experiment-Driven Development:
    • Test multiple AI implementations simultaneously to determine optimal approaches.
  3. Runtime Control:
    • Enable or disable AI capabilities without requiring application redeployment.

Why It Matters:

How to Implement:

  1. Flag Definition:
    • Create a structured system for AI-specific feature flags and configurations.
  2. Targeting Rules:
    • Develop rules for selective feature enablement based on user attributes or context.
  3. Evaluation Logic:
    • Implement flag checking within AI service access points.

Example:

import { PostHog } from 'posthog-node';

class AIFeatureFlagService {
private posthog: PostHog;
private localOverrides: Map<string, boolean>;
private featureConfigs: Map<string, any>;

constructor() {
// Initialize PostHog for feature flags
this.posthog = new PostHog(process.env.POSTHOG_API_KEY, {
host: 'https://app.posthog.com'
});

// Local emergency overrides (take precedence over PostHog)
this.localOverrides = new Map();

// Feature-specific configurations
this.featureConfigs = new Map();

// Initialize default configurations
this.initDefaultConfigs();
}

private initDefaultConfigs() {
this.featureConfigs.set('content-generator', {
defaultModel: 'gpt-3.5-turbo',
premiumModel: 'gpt-4',
maxTokens: 1000,
temperature: 0.7
});

this.featureConfigs.set('support-assistant', {
model: 'claude-instant',
maxTokens: 2000,
enabledCategories: ['billing', 'technical', 'account']
});

// More feature configurations...
}

async isEnabled(featureKey: string, userId: string, userProperties: any = {}) {
// Check emergency overrides first
if (this.localOverrides.has(featureKey)) {
return this.localOverrides.get(featureKey);
}

// Check PostHog feature flag
try {
const result = await this.posthog.isFeatureEnabled(
ai-${featureKey},
userId,
userProperties
);
return result;
} catch (error) {
console.error(Error checking feature flag: ${error.message});
// Default to disabled on error
return false;
}
}

async getConfiguration(featureKey: string, userId: string, userProperties: any = {}) {
// Check if feature is enabled first
const isEnabled = await this.isEnabled(featureKey, userId, userProperties);

if (!isEnabled) {
return { enabled: false };
}

// Get default configuration
const defaultConfig = this.featureConfigs.get(featureKey) || {};

// Check PostHog for dynamic configuration
try {
const dynamicConfig = await this.posthog.getFeatureFlag(
ai-${featureKey}-config,
userId,
userProperties
);

// Merge default with dynamic config
return {
enabled: true,
...defaultConfig,
...(dynamicConfig || {})
};
} catch (error) {
console.error(Error fetching feature config: ${error.message});
// Fall back to default config
return {
enabled: true,
...defaultConfig
};
}
}

// Emergency override for incidents
setEmergencyOverride(featureKey: string, enabled: boolean) {
console.warn(Setting emergency override for ${featureKey}: ${enabled});
this.localOverrides.set(featureKey, enabled);
}

clearEmergencyOverride(featureKey: string) {
console.log(Clearing emergency override for ${featureKey});
this.localOverrides.delete(featureKey);
}

// Usage example
async useAIFeature(featureKey: string, userId: string, userProperties: any = {}) {
const config = await this.getConfiguration(featureKey, userId, userProperties);

if (!config.enabled) {
return {
success: false,
reason: 'feature_disabled',
message: AI feature '${featureKey}' is currently disabled
};
}

// Feature is enabled, proceed with configuration
console.log(Using AI feature '${featureKey}' with config:, config);

// Feature-specific implementation would follow...
return {
success: true,
config
};
}
}

// Example usage
async function generateContent(userId, prompt) {
const featureFlagService = new AIFeatureFlagService();

const featureResult = await featureFlagService.useAIFeature(
'content-generator',
userId,
{ accountTier: 'premium', usageCount: 27 }
);

if (!featureResult.success) {
return { error: featureResult.message };
}

// Select model based on user properties and configuration
const model = featureResult.config.usePremiumModel ?
featureResult.config.premiumModel :
featureResult.config.defaultModel;

// Generate content using the selected model
// ...
}
```

Connections:

References:

  1. Primary Source:
    • Feature flag platform documentation (PostHog, LaunchDarkly, etc.)
  2. Additional Resources:
    • Progressive delivery methodologies
    • A/B testing frameworks for AI features

Tags:

#featureFlags #AIDeployment #progressiveDelivery #experimentDrivenDevelopment #ABTesting #runtimeControl #riskMitigation

Connections:

Sources: