AI Chat from Scratch: A Beginner’s Deep Dive

In this hands-on session, we’ll build a chatbot that can role-play as Isaac Asimov. Designed for absolute beginners, this workshop takes you step by step through the internals of an AI chat system.

We’ll write all the code from scratch and go over it line by line, so you’ll not only get a working chatbot but also a clear understanding of how everything fits together. By the end, you’ll have the confidence to build and experiment with your own conversational AI apps.

## What You’ll Build

An Isaac Asimov Chatbot where:

• You can ask questions about Asimov’s life and works
• The chatbot responds in the voice of Asimov, using a system prompt
• The conversation flows naturally across multiple turns, with memory of what’s been said

## Workshop Stages

### Stage 1: Making Your First AI Call

• Learn what an API is and why it matters
• Send your first message to the AI and examine the raw response
• Understand the anatomy of a request and a reply
  Key Learning: Every AI chat starts with a simple request–response cycle.

### Stage 2: Adding a Persona

• Use system prompts to shape the chatbot’s personality
• Role-play Asimov and compare different response styles
  Key Learning: You can control the “character” of your chatbot through instructions.

### Stage 3: Building a Multi-Turn Chat

• Store past messages to give the chatbot memory
• Create a loop so the conversation continues naturally
• Explore how context changes the quality of responses
  Key Learning: Chatbots become powerful by remembering the flow of dialogue.

### Stage 4: Experiment and Extend

• Adjust creativity with parameters like temperature
• See how small code changes lead to different behaviors
• Try new prompts to make the chatbot versatile
  Key Learning: Understanding the internals lets you bend the chatbot to your needs.

## What You’ll Take Away

• A working AI Chatbot coded from scratch
• Confidence reading and writing simple Python code
• A clear understanding of how AI APIs power chat systems
• Skills you can use to build and customize your own AI apps