AI Reasoning & Prompting Demonstrations

Explore brain-inspired AI and high-performance prompting at December’s First Monday Meetup. Andy Masters will introduce Hierarchical Reasoning Models—small, fast systems you can run locally—then Caelan Huntress will lead a hands-on session to sharpen your prompting skills across multiple LLMs. Drinks, demos, and practical takeaways included.
Meet up with your local AI community on the First Monday of December at EPIC Innovation:

5:30–6:00 pm — Drinks & Networking
6:00–6:45 pm — Hierarchical Reasoning Models — Andy Masters
6:45–7:30 pm — Prompt Like a Pro — Caelan Huntress
7:30–8:00 pm — Drinks & Open Q&A

This month’s First Monday Meetup dives into brain-inspired reasoning models and high-performance prompting. You’ll explore small, fast-learning AI models you can run locally, then level up your prompting skills through live demos and hands-on practice.

Hierarchical Reasoning Models - Andy Masters
Getting hands-on with HRMs (Hierarchical Reasoning Models). HRMs are small, fast-learning, and can tackle niche problems that frontier LLMs often fumble.
In this session, Andy will:

• Introduce HRMs and their inspiration from the brain’s fast/slow thinking systems
• Work through example “grid-style” problems like mazes and Sudoku puzzles
• Show how to run an HRM on your own machine—either through code or, for non-technical users, via Excel

Prompt Like a Pro — Caelan Huntress
This high-energy, hands-on session is all about getting more out of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. Caelan will teach the PILLARS framework for reliably great prompts while you follow along and practice live.
You’ll learn how to:

• Distill long PDFs in minutes
• Create a Custom GPT that mirrors your voice
• Compare models side by side
• Use Advanced Voice Mode to rehearse tough conversations

Bring a laptop if you want to participate, or simply watch and learn. You’ll leave with reusable prompts, templates, and a sharper creative process.

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When: Monday, 2 December, 5:30–8:00 pm
Where: EPIC Innovation, Christchurch
Bring: Your laptop (optional, for hands-on exercises)

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Sponsored by Agentic Intelligence
Raise a glass to Agentic Intelligence for sponsoring the evening’s drinks, and to EPIC Innovation for hosting the event in their wonderful facility!