A Generative Al Engineer is building a production-ready LLM system which replies directly to customers.

The task is to prevent toxic or unsafe responses in an LLM system using the Foundation Model API with minimal effort. Let’s assess the options.

Option A: Host Llama Guard on Foundation Model API and use it to detect unsafe responses

Llama Guard is a safety-focused model designed to detect toxic or unsafe content. Hosting it via the Foundation Model API (a Databricks service) integrates seamlessly with the existing system, requiring minimal setup (just deployment and a check step), and leverages provisioned throughput for performance.

Databricks Reference:"Foundation Model API supports hosting safety models like Llama Guard to filter outputs efficiently"("Foundation Model API Documentation," 2023).

Option B: Add some LLM calls to their chain to detect unsafe content before returning text

Using additional LLM calls (e.g., prompting an LLM to classify toxicity) increases latency, complexity, and effort (crafting prompts, chaining logic), and lacks the specificity of a dedicated safety model.

Databricks Reference:"Ad-hoc LLM checks are less efficient than purpose-built safety solutions"("Building LLM Applications with Databricks").

Option C: Add a regex expression on inputs and outputs to detect unsafe responses

Regex can catch simple patterns (e.g., profanity) but fails for nuanced toxicity (e.g., sarcasm, context-dependent harm), requiring significant manual effort to maintain and update rules.

Databricks Reference:"Regex-based filtering is limited for complex safety needs"("Generative AI Cookbook").

Option D: Ask users to report unsafe responses

User reporting is reactive, not preventive, and places burden on users rather than the system. It doesn’t limit unsafe outputs proactively and requires additional effort for feedback handling.

Databricks Reference:"Proactive guardrails are preferred over user-driven monitoring"("Databricks Generative AI Engineer Guide").

Conclusion: Option A (Llama Guard on Foundation Model API) is the least-effort, most effective approach, leveraging Databricks’ infrastructure for seamless safety integration.